No permission for Israel to cross Arab airspace to strike Iran: AL chief

Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa on Sunday denied reports that Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman have agreed to allow Israeli warplanes to cross their airspaces to strike Iran.

Moussa was quoted by Egypt's official MENA news agency as saying that foreign ministers of the three countries told him on Sunday that reports published by Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz on their countries' approval of Israeli warplanes to cross their airspaces to strike Iran were baseless.

"Such reports are nonsense and completely bare of truth," Moussa said, adding that approval could never happen either at present or in the future.

"No Arab country could possibly allow or permit Israel to attack Iran," he said.

Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said on Saturday that any talk of an Israeli offensive against Iran was speculative only.

In a statement released on Sunday, Moussa underlined the importance of an Arab-Iranian dialogue as Iran is part of the region, saying that the dialogue should serve the interests of both sides.

The major challenge facing Arab and Islamic nations was posed by attempts to trigger sectarian sedition, which is unacceptable, Moussa said.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei issued a report on Thursday, saying that Iran had refused to suspend its uranium enrichment, defying a UN Security Council deadline which expired on Wednesday.

Many observers believe that the UN Security Council might negotiate another resolution, which would likely impose tougher sanctions on Tehran.