Barak to U.S.: Impose new Iran nuclear sanctions

The U.S. must aid in imposing effective sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates during a meeting in Washington D.C. on Thursday.

Barak made the comments during a mostly private session with Gates, joined in parts by Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen as well as other defense officials, in which participants discussed Iran's alliance with both Syria and Hezbollah following a summit participated by Syrian President Bashar Assad and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Damascus earlier Thursday.

"It is imperative to impose harsh, paralyzing sanctions on Iran in order to prevent it from any further advancement toward nuclear weapons capability," Barak said in the meeting.

On the subject of Hezbollah, the defense minister said that the Lebanese militant organization was constantly rearming itself, mostly with rockets, which he claims proves the group's sole purpose was "to harm Israeli citizens, which means terror for the sake of terror."

Barak is expected to meet Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Friday, later meeting with Vice President Joe Biden, who is scheduled to visit Israel on March 8.