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Posted on 12/16/2001 3:13:21 PM PST by TheOtherOne

Israel spy chief: Iran developing nuclear weapons, but also sending occasional peace signals
By YOAV APPEL

18:40 ET
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

JERUSALEM (AP) - In a rare public speech, the head of Israel 's Mossad intelligence agency said Sunday that Iran was continuing its attempt to develop nuclear and other non-conventional weapons, but was also sending occasional hints that it could someday reconcile with Israel .

Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy offered his assessment at a public conference on security in Tel Aviv.

"There are Iranians in high-standing positions of influence that are saying that if there is an Israeli-Palestinian agreement ... Iran will not stand in the way of that agreement," Halevy said. "There are even covert messages of the possibility of reconciliation" emanating from Iran.

"These are lone chords at the moment, and they are in no way joining to form a melody," Halevy added, without providing additional details.

However, he also stressed that Iran was attempting to develop nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as expanding its long-range missile program.

Iran and Israel have been bitter enemies for years, with Iran providing support for the militant Islamic group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Hezbollah fought for years against Israeli troops in south Lebanon.

Israel pulled its forces out of Lebanon last year, but Hezbollah still wages sporadic attacks over a disputed patch of territory along the border.

Meanwhile, Halevy described the U.S.-led campaign against international terrorism as an unprecedented development because of its focus on an organization - Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network - rather than a sovereign state.

The campaign could eventually lead some countries, such as Iran and Syria, to end their support of radical groups accused of carrying out terrorism, Halevy said.

Halevy said that after the war in Afghanistan, international pressure could mount on Syrian President Bashar Assad to "bite the bullet," and crack down on radical groups in his country.

The British-born Halevy is only the second Mossad chief to be identified by name. Until recent years, Israel 's military censor prohibited publication of the Mossad chief's name or photograph.

Halevy spoke at a security conference in December of last year in what was billed as the first ever public speech by the head of the Israeli intelligence agency.

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