WASHINGTON - Should the United Nations Security Council fail to agree on stricter sanctions against Iran in the near future, says Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, then the U.S. and Europe must initiate their own move to punish Tehran for its nuclear weapon's program.

Mofaz is expected to deliver this message in Washington on Thursday.

Mofaz heads the Israeli delegation conducting negotiations with the U.S. administration in Washington in the framework of the strategic dialogue forum between the two countries.

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He is expected to tell the American officials the U.S. should apply enough pressure on Iran to cause the Islamic Republic to alter its nuclear policy by the end of 2007.

The forum will deal primarily with ways of pressuring Iran into abandoning its nuclear program. It will also deal, however, with preventing arms smuggling to Hezbollah in Lebanon, in accordance with Security Council resolution 1701.

Mofaz will tell the Americans that Hezbollah has restored most of the capabilities it lost in the Second Lebanon War.

On Wednesday, Mofaz met with the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Nick Burns, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, who heads the American team in the forum.