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'Threat to the world'

Iran's nuclear weapons program poses the "most serious threat to the world," Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor warned.

"There is limited time [to stop Iran], and the question is, 'What will be done with that time,' " he said in an interview with National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" program.

The threat is not limited to Israel, which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to destroy, the ambassador said.

"We see the Iranian threat as the most serious threat to the world," he said. "It's [a threat] to Israel because [Iran] threatens Israel's very existence and denies our right to exist.

"It's [a threat] to the region because they would like to dominate the entire Middle East. But beyond that, I think that it will be a different world for our children and grandchildren were Iran to be able to have a nuclear weapon."

Mr. Meridor predicted that Iran would disrupt nuclear nonproliferation efforts and let "many, many genies out of many, many bottles."

He urged the "world community" to act "responsibly and seriously and determinedly by diplomatic ways, by economic pressure on Iran, by explaining to the Iranian people the wrongdoing of their government."

Mr. Meridor also said the Israeli government is "constantly" looking for any change in the views of the militant Hamas group that dominates the Palestinian government. Hamas has refused to recognize the state of Israel.

"Not only our hearts and hands, but our ears are constantly open [to any change in Hamas]," he said. "There is nothing Israel wants more than peace, and we are constantly tuned to any potential change in our enemies and in their views. So far, as we know, Hamas is committed to the opposite of peace."