U.S. sidesteps questions on Israeli threat against Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Friday sidestepped questions about an Israeli threat to attack Iranian nuclear sites if it continues uranium enrichment, saying it was committed to dealing with Tehran through multilateral diplomacy.

Israeli Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz was quoted as telling an Israeli newspaper that an attack on Iran looks "unavoidable" given the apparent failure of sanctions to deny Tehran technology with bomb-making potential.

"I understand that Israel is very concerned about their future and their safety when they have a neighbor in their region -- Iran -- that says they want to wipe them off the map," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

"We are trying to solve this diplomatically," she said.

Asked whether the United States was keeping military options open as a last resort with Iran, she said President George W. Bush had always said he "would never take any options off the table" but that Washington was pursuing multilateral diplomacy.

"The international community deserves to have the verification that that is true," she said of Iran's assertions that its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

Earlier, White House spokesman Scott Stanzel, asked specifically whether the United States would support an Israeli strike on Iran, said, "I'm not going to talk about hypotheticals. I think we've been pretty clear in recent weeks and months about our approach on Iran."

The Bush administration has repeatedly said it wants to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomacy but has made clear that military options remain on the table as a last resort.

Iran has defied Western pressure to abandon its uranium enrichment projects, which it says are for peaceful electricity generation.

Tehran has also threatened to retaliate against Israel, believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, and U.S. targets in the Gulf if there is any attack on Iran.

Bush held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this week at the White House and both leaders reiterated that Iran could not be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

Mofaz's threat against Iran was the most explicit from a member of Olmert's government, which like the Bush administration, has preferred to hint at a possible use of force.

(Reporting by Paul Eckert and Matt Spetalnick)