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MR. MORRELL: Good afternoon. Thanks for coming. I've a couple of brief scheduling updates or notices, a clarification, and then I'll be glad to take your questions.

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Q After the meeting, Defense Minister Barak said he urged Gates to keep all options on the table with regard to Iran. Are Secretary Gates and Defense Minister Barak on the same page when it comes to Iran? What can you tell us about that part of the meeting?

MR. MORRELL: I'm not going to get into the specifics of the meeting. It was deliberately small to avoid readouts that are too detailed. So I can reiterate for you once again our position on Iran, which is uniform throughout this government, and that is that we continue to believe the best possible avenue to prevent and dissuade the Iranians from pursuing nuclear weapons is through economic and political pressure. That is what we are committed to. We have been and remain so.

However, a military option is always available to us. It's not our first choice. We are focused at this point on pursuing economic and political pressures as a means of preventing the Iranians from developing or pursuing a nuclear weapon.

Q Minister Barak seemed to be -- Israel seemed to be pushing the United States to take a slightly tougher or a tougher stand. Would you agree with that?

MR. MORRELL: I didn't hear Minister Barak. I wasn't in the meeting. So I don't know if he was encouraging a tougher stand. I think our position has been made abundantly clear to the citizens of this country, indeed the citizens of the world, for that matter. Israel I'm sure has heard it loud and clear in our public statements and in our private meetings, whether they be between the chairman and his counterpart in Tel Aviv not so long ago or between the secretary and Minister Barak yesterday.

I think the Israelis are keenly aware that we believe the best possible avenue of pursuing -- of dissuading, rather, the Iranians from pursuing a nuclear weapon is through economic and political pressures.

We certainly understand the Israelis view a nuclear Iran as an existential threat. They have made that abundantly clear to us, to the world. And we are working -- we are working diligently to try to prevent that from happening. But the way in which we are focusing our efforts is on diplomatic, economic, financial pressures.

Q Geoff, a follow-up on that. The Israelis said that Gates also -- or they also discussed the possibility of providing Israel with missile defense systems, including X-band -- an X-band -- fully deployed X-band radar, early warning launch data, countermeasures against short and -- short-range rockets and mortars.

Is that the case? And is that something that you're committed to doing?

MR. MORRELL: Well, I think as I shared with you a moment ago, what we are committed to is exploring additional defensive capabilities for Israel. The specifics of those capabilities I'm just not going to talk about from the podium.

Q Geoff?

MR. MORRELL: Yeah.

Any more on Israel?

Q One more.

MR. MORRELL: Yeah, Jennifer.

Q Did the Defense minister give a sense that the Israelis are working on a slightly longer time horizon now with regards to Iran, thinking that it could be one to two years before they cross a certain line?

MR. MORRELL: Again, Jennifer, I'm sorry; I wasn't there. I don't know exactly what he communicated. I can just tell you that there was a broad strategic vision that was shared between the two leaders about the threats to the Middle East and emanating from it, and we reiterated our commitment to work to enhance Israel's defensive capabilities.

Yeah, Tony.

Q I have a related Israel-Iran question. You told Reuters, as reported in The Jerusalem Post recently, that it was the department's firm belief that Iran would not be receiving the SA-20 missile, otherwise known as the S-300, this year. I wanted you to square that with the DIA's public assessment that, A, they believe it will be close to acquiring that missile. In response to queries from reporters, they say it's their belief that Iran could get this missile and associated equipment by the end of the year.

MR. MORRELL: And your question is?

Q My question is, who's right here? The department firmly believes, according to you, that they're not going to be receiving these missiles this year. DIA suggests otherwise, that it's a possibility.

MR. MORRELL: Well, I find it's always safest to repeat what my boss has said on this matter, and he does not believe that the -- my boss being Secretary Gates -- does not believe -- he said -- I think his quote was on July the 9th that it is "highly unlikely" that the Iranians will have in their hands anytime soon the SA-20.

I think what DIA has relayed is that they will not have -- DIA believes that associated equipment deliveries could start by the end of the year. I think the secretary was talking about the capabilities of the SA-20 -- i.e., a deployable system -- versus what DIA was specifically speaking to, which is the possibility that associated equipment or parts could be delivered sooner, perhaps by year's end.

There's no question, Tony, that the Iranians are pursuing a ballistic missile system. They are hell-bent on acquiring one. So I don't think that should come as a surprise to anyone. There is, perhaps, an evolving understanding about the timeline by which they could acquire one.

A lot of this is -- a lot of this -- excuse me, Tony -- is based upon intelligence. And intelligence, as you know, is constantly evolving. We get bits and pieces each and every day that cause us to reevaluate and reassess the situation. And so it would not surprise me that there is -- that there may be changes in our assessment.

But I would refer you back to the secretary's remarks about it on July the 9th, when he said, based on upon what I know, "it's highly unlikely that those air defense missiles would be in Iranian hands any time soon." I think that's -- that's the operative statement for this department.

Q DIA said the associated equipment, though, is the missiles also. I think your point is that they may not have a deployable, operational system this year. Is that your point?

MR. MORRELL: My point is the secretary believes that they will not have missiles. His quote -- and I'd refer you back to it, Tony -- July 9th: "those air defense missiles," "it's highly unlikely would be in Iranian hands any time soon." So I'd refer you to the secretary's comments.

Okay, yeah. Joe.

This is the end of Israel, right?

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