Whether Iran will rein in its nuclear program or push ahead with its suspected bid for a weapons capability is likely to become clear by the end of 2013, Israel's Ehud Barak said on Monday.
"Iran remains the central challenge this year, and it is possible well see the direction determined by the end of the year," the outgoing defense minister told members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defense, AFP reported.
Barak, who will step down when the new coalition government is announced later this week, used the opportunity to renew warnings that Iran is seeking to put its nuclear facilities out of reach of any military strike.
"The Iranian leader wants to reach the zone of immunity with a large and well-defended number of nuclear facilities," he said. "He thinks the United States will have trouble in attacking in the future if he achieves these things."