Kara, speaking at a Beersheba event, said that though none of them would admit to it publicly, Islamic nations had conveyed messages to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that they would back military action against Iran by Israel and the US.

Kara said that Israel would strike “if there is no option.”

Western countries have drafted a weakened fourth set of sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Under pressure from Russia and China, the nations will not tighten the ban on trade between Western banks and the Central Bank of Iran (CBI). Diplomats at the United Nations were quoted as saying that the United States, Britain, France and Germany accepted Russia’s proposal that the West only ban trading with newly-established Iranian banks, and not increase existing trade limitations with the CBI.