Netanyahu: Iran Will Hit Red Line in 'Weeks'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CBS News’ Face the Nation that Iran will reach the “red line” he laid down at the United Nations in Sep. 2012–90% uranium enrichment–within “a few weeks,” and that Israel will be prepared to act. “I won’t wait until it’s too late,” he told CBS News’ Bob Schieffer.

Netanyahu spoke as news of an Israeli submarine strike on Russian Y-800 anti-ship missiles in Syria was reported–the fulfillment of an ultimatum Israel had issued earlier, indicating that it would attack weapons shipments that allowed hostile nations to pose a threat to Israel’s self-defense capability. 

Also in the background was a renewed effort by the Obama administration to seek direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program with newly-elected president Hasan Rouhani. Rouhani has frequently been described in the western media as a “moderate,” though his background is that of a hard-line conservative.

Netanyahu described Rouhani as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” whose strategy was “smile, and build a bomb.” He insisted that Iran “stop all enrichment of nuclear material, take out the enriched uranium, and shut down the illegal nuclear facility in Qom,” or face harsher sanctions and, in the last resort, military action.