Israel to start Arrow 3 production although key test still to come

Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI)
Jan 21, 2013

The Defense Ministry and Israel Aerospace Industries are so confident the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile system will be able to destroy hostile missiles in space, they're reported to be planning to start production even before flight testing has been completed.

And that includes the critical test of actually intercepting a target missile that will simulate an incoming Iranian Shehab 3b ballistic weapon, which Israel views as its main missile threat at the moment.

The Israeli business daily Globes reported Arrow 3, being developed by state-owned IAI and the U.S. Boeing Co., is scheduled to undergo that test sometime in the next few weeks.

Defense expert Yuval Azulai said the Ministry of Defense and IAI's engineers "are so convinced that the missile will work that they've decided not to waste precious time and to begin production.

"Few interception tests are planned anyway, and if the tests that will be carried out indicate a gap between planned and actual performance, minor software updates should be able to correct them."

Arrow 3 is expected to become operational in 2015, and planners at the Defense Ministry are already thinking about future upgrades of the system to give every Iranian missile an explosive reception," Azulai said.

The two-stage Arrow 3 system successfully passed its second flight test over the eastern Mediterranean Sea Jan. 3 and reached its operational altitude outside Earth's atmosphere.

Officials said the "kill vehicle" jettisoned its booster rocket and carried out "various maneuvers" in space for several minutes using thrust vectors.

During the 10-minutes test, it communicated well with the system's advanced Green Pine radar developed by Elbit Systems subsidiary Elta Systems and the command-and-control center built by Tadiron, now part of Elbit's Elisra division.

Arrow 3 is designed to intercept ballistic missiles in space before they're over Israel and shoot them down at high altitudes to disintegrate nuclear, chemical or biological warheads.

Unlike the Arrow 2 variant currently in service, which is designed to intercept ballistic missiles at lower altitudes within Earth's atmosphere with explosive warheads, Arrow 3 uses interceptors that ram their targets.

Arrow 3 will constitute the topmost tier of a multilevel missile defense shield known as Homa, Hebrew for Wall, that's being put together with hefty U.S. funding over and above the annual $3.1 billion in U.S. military aid Israel received.

Arrow 2, operational for several years, will be its back-up, gunning for any ballistic missiles that slip through the Arrow 3 screen.

The next level down will be David's Sling, designed to counter medium-range missiles and cruise missiles. It's being developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel's biggest defense company after IAI, and the U.S. Raytheon Co.

Rafael's Iron Dome system, designed to intercept unguided rockets and short-range missiles, forms the bottom level.

It's been operational since early 2012 and by the military's tally has racked up a kill rate of 84.6 percent against the rockets unleashed by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip it has engaged.

On Saturday, Rafael announced on its website that it plans to unveil yet another system, Iron Beam which uses a high-energy laser to destroy short-range rockets, artillery and mortar shells, at the Singapore Air Show to be held Feb. 11-16.

It's designed to complement Iron Dome, and once operational would reduce the cost of intercepting rockets, such as those used by the Palestinians and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Each radar-guided Iron Dome interceptor costs nearly $100,000 but Iron Beam would cost significantly less.

The United States and Israel worked on a laser-based missile defense system known as Nautilus (1996-2005). It cost $300 million, but was shelved because of its perceived poor performance in cloudy weather and in countering salvos of missiles and rockets.

The tactical high energy laser project was conducted by the Northrop-Grumman Corp., the prime contractor, with a group of Israeli companies that included IAI, Rafael, Elbit and Tadiran.

In February 1996, Nautilus shot down a rocket in a test at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, the first time a rocket had been destroyed in flight by a laser beam.

But the program was constantly held up in the U.S. Congress and in 2001 Israeli commanders deemed Nautilus irrelevant and too expensive.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Israel_to_start_Arrow_3_production_although_key_test_still_to_come_999.html.

Israeli company to unveil laser defense

Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Jan 21, 2014

A state-owned Israeli arms company says it will unveil a new laser-defense system next month that will be capable of shooting down short-range rockets and mortar fire.

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. says the "Iron Beam" system will use a "directed high energy laser beam" to intercept incoming projectiles fired from short distances. The system is to be displayed at the Singapore Air Show next month and is expected to be operational next year.

Once deployed, Iron Beam would add another element of protection to Israel's multilayered missile defense system.

Israel is developing a new generation of its "Arrow" system to intercept long-range ballistic missiles in space. It also is developing a system to intercept medium-range missiles and has deployed "Iron Dome," which shoots down short-range rockets.

Source: Space War.
Link: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Israeli_company_to_unveil_laser_defense_999.html.

State of emergency begins in Thailand

January 22, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Gunmen shot and wounded a top leader of a major pro-government movement in northern Thailand on Wednesday, and demonstrators pushing to overthrow the prime minister defied the start of a state of emergency imposed in the capital to cope with the nation's increasingly bloody political crisis.

Kwanchai Praipana was shot twice and hospitalized after unidentified gunmen in a pick-up truck sprayed bursts of gunfire at his home in Udon Thani, according to another leader of the group, Jutaporn Promphan.

The government announced the state of emergency late Tuesday in the wake of a string of attacks that have mostly been aimed at demonstrators protesting peacefully in Bangkok. Grenade assaults on Friday and Sunday killed one man and wounded more than 60 people alone, bringing the casualty toll since November to at least nine dead and more than 550 hurt.

The emergency decree allows authorities to ban public gatherings, impose curfews and censor local news reports for 60 days. But the government said it would not use those powers to crack down on demonstrators who have seized several patches of the capital, and life in the city continued as normal with tourist sites unaffected and no major deployment of extra security forces.

The powerful army commander, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, said "we will have to see" whether the decree helps ease the violence. The protesters have refused to negotiate with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, but Prayuth urged both sides to talk, saying, "we must stop this conflict to let the country move forward."

"I'm in favor of discussion. No one takes all or loses all. No one wins all or loses all, so we have to find a way," he said. Because "whenever the conflict has gone to the point that it is not fixable, the soldiers have to fix it."

Thailand's military has staged 11 coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. Prayuth has repeatedly said he does not want the army to intervene, but has pointedly refused to rule out a coup. The protesters have blocked major streets and marched on government offices in a bid to shut down the capital and force Yingluck's resignation to make way for an appointed government to implement reforms to fight corruption, which they say must be implemented before any vote. The opposition Democrat Party, closely aligned with the protesters, is boycotting the polls.

The protesters charge that Yingluck's government is carrying on the practices of Thaksin Shinawatra, her billionaire brother who was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, by using the family fortune and state funds to influence voters and cement its power. Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006 after protests accused him of corruption and abuse of power. He fled into exile in 2008 to avoid a two-year prison sentence for a conflict of interest conviction.

The unrest has cast doubt over whether Feb. 2 elections, which Yingluck called to quell the crisis, will be held. On Wednesday, the Election Commission requested the Constitutional Court to issue a ruling on how and whether the ballot can be delayed.

Charupong Ruangsuwan, caretaker Interior Minister, told The Associated Press the vote should go ahead and the Election Commission should not use the state of emergency as an excuse to postpone the poll.

"They can use any excuses all they want, but their duty is to hold the election," he said. "They may accuse the government of causing problems, but the government doesn't have any problems." The emergency decree appeared to embolden the demonstrators. Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban vowed late Tuesday to continue demonstrating and questioned whether the declaration was justified, saying the protesters had been peaceful.

"Whatever they warn us not to do, we will do," he declared. "We will march on the routes they ban. ... If they order us not to rally, we will be here indefinitely." Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said Suthep's protesters "have constantly violated the law, especially in closing down government offices and banks and harassment against civil servants to prevent them from working."

He added the demonstrators "had gone overboard, and attacks were carried out by ill-intentioned people, causing people to be injured and killed, affecting the country's stability." Deputy army spokesman Col. Winthai Suvaree said the military would support the government and supply forces as needed.

__ Associated Press writer Grant Peck contributed to this report.

Grenade blasts hit Thai protest site, wounding 28

January 20, 2014

BANGKOK (AP) — Twin explosions shook an anti-government demonstration site in Thailand's capital, wounding at least 28 people in the latest violence to hit Bangkok as the nation's increasingly bloody political crisis drags on.

Police said the blasts Sunday near Victory Monument, in the north of the city, were caused by fragmentation grenades — the same kind that killed one man and wounded dozens Friday in a similar explosion targeting protest marchers.

The demonstrators, who control several small patches of Bangkok, are vying to overthrow Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government and derail Feb. 2 elections she called to quell the crisis. The protest movement has refused to negotiate and the rising casualty toll has only deepened the deadlock.

Witnesses said the explosions occurred about two minutes apart. The first blast went off about 100-200 meters (yards) from a stage set up by protesters, leaving a small crater beside a shop. The second went off near a row of vendors selling T-shirts in the street, leaving bloody clothes and a ripped white-and-blue plastic tarp scattered across the ground.

Police released closed circuit camera images of the suspect that showed a man wearing a black baseball cap bag hurling one of the grenades toward a tent behind the stage. The grenade hit the roof of a small coffee shop and exploded. The suspect ran, threw a second grenade and was chased down an alley before fleeing by motorcycle.

Although the vast majority of Bangkok remains calm, political violence nearly every day over the last week has kept the city of 12 million on edge and raised fears hostilities are only just beginning.

On Friday, another grenade hurled at marching demonstrators in the city center killed one man and injured dozens. And late Saturday, a gunman opened fire on protesters in the capital's Lad Prao district, seriously wounding a 54-year-old volunteer guard who was shot in the back.

There are conflicting theories about who is behind the unrest. Demonstrators blame the government and its supporters, who in turn accuse protesters of staging the attacks to pressure the military or judiciary to intervene — scenarios that would benefit the protest movement, which lacks the numbers to bring down the government on its own.

Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch, said "both sides of Thailand's political divide use violence and spin to serve their political goals." He added such attacks are likely to continue.

Thailand's army has staged about a dozen successful coups since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. The last coup, in 2006, toppled then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra — Yingluck's brother — and touched off a societal schism that in broad terms pits a poor rural north who back the Shinawatras against a Bangkok-based elite backed by the army and staunch royalists who see Yingluck's family as a corrupt threat to traditional structures of power.

Yingluck's opponents — a minority that can no longer win at the polls — argue the Shinawatras are using their electoral majority to impose their will and subvert democracy. The crisis boiled over again late last year after the ruling party attempted to push through an amnesty bill that would have allowed Thaksin to return from self-imposed exile. Thaksin has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a prison sentence for a corruption conviction.

Sunday's blasts wounded 28 civilians, five of them critically, according to the Erawan Medical Center, which tracks casualties. Police Col. Kamthorn Auicharoen, an explosive ordnance disposal officer, said intact grenade levers found at the scene indicated the explosives were Russian-built, anti-personnel RGD-5s.

A senior member of the protest movement, Sathit Wongnongtoey, condemned the bloodshed but said "condemnation is not enough ... it's the government who did it." Yingluck's administration and the political movement that supports her, the Red Shirts, have denied responsibility for organizing the violence.

Anxious about triggering military intervention, Yingluck has ordered police to avoid confrontations. The strategy has undermined rule of law and the government's authority, however, with police essentially ceding scattered pockets of Bangkok to demonstrators.

The protest movement has armed guards, and it has at times taken the law into its own hands. Another protest leader, Issara Somchai, said demonstrators detained two men Saturday allegedly found with small homemade explosives and handcuffs. He said the men were being "investigated."

"We are taking care of them. They are safe with us," he said, adding they were being protected from demonstrators who could seek revenge.

ALMA Discovers a Formation Site of a Giant Planetary System

Atacama, Chile (SPX)
Jan 23, 2014

A team of Japanese astronomers has obtained a firm evidence of formation of a giant planetary system around a young star by the observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/sub-millimeter Array (ALMA). This result has a transformative impact on the theories of planet formation and gives us a clue to the origin of a wide variety of planetary systems.

The research team, led by astronomers at Osaka University and Ibaraki University, observed a young star named HD142527 in the constellation Lupus (the Wolf) with ALMA. The ALMA image shows that cosmic dust, which is component material of planets, is circling around the star in a form of asymmetric ring. By measuring the density of dust in the densest part of the ring, the astronomers found that it is highly possible that planets are now being formed in that region. This region is far from the central star, about 5 times larger than the distance between the Sun and the Neptune.

This is the first firm evidence of planet formation found so far from the central star in a protoplanetary disk. The research team plans further observations of HD142527 with ALMA for closer investigation, as well as other protoplanetary disks to have a comprehensive understanding of the planet formation in general.

Research Background

More than 1000 extrasolar planets have been discovered until now, and it is widely recognized that the Sun is not the only star which has planets. In the research of extrasolar planets, astronomers have found a wide variety of planets such as Jupiter-like gaseous giant planets circling around central stars in a much smaller orbit than that of the Mercury, and planets that have a very large orbit far beyond the Neptune's orbit.

While such a diverse range of extrasolar planets have been discovered, the formation process of planets is yet to be well understood. This is one of the top priority issues in modern astronomy and an increasing number of observations have been conducted to explore the planet forming region around young stars.

A baby star is surrounded by a ring of dust and gas, which would be the component material of planets. Recent near-infrared observations with the NAOJ Subaru Telescope revealed that protoplanetary disks have structures that are far more complex than we expected. Spiral or gap structures are thought to be associated with hidden planets in the disk.

However, it is impossible to measure the amount of dust and gas in the densest part of the disk by near-infrared observations. Since near-infrared light is easily absorbed or scattered by a large amount of dust, it isn't suitable for observing the innermost part of the dense region of the disk.

Then, the key to the solution will be millimeter and sub-millimeter wave, which can be observed with ALMA. Millimeter/sub-millimeter wave has longer wavelength than near-infrared light and is poorly absorbed by dust, which enables astronomers to peer into the inner part of the disk. Low spatial resolution was a weak point in millimeter/sub-millimeter observations, but it is now greatly improved by ALMA.

Observations with ALMA

The research team selected a young star HD142527 in the constellation Lupus (the Wolf) as a target of their ALMA observations. Through their prior observations of the disk around HD142527 with the Subaru Telescope, they discovered a gap inside the disk and peculiar shape of the outer disk. ALMA detected the sub-millimeter emission from the dust ring around the star. The emission has a non-uniform distribution and the northern side is 30 times brighter than the faint southern side. "We are very surprised at the brightness of the northern side," said Misato Fukagawa, the leader of the team and an assistant professor at Osaka University.

"The brightest part in sub-millimeter wave is located far from the central star, and the distance is comparable to five times the distance between the Sun and the Neptune. I have never seen such a bright knot in such a distant position. This strong sub-millimeter emission can be interpreted as an indication that large amount of material is accumulated in this position. When a sufficient amount of material is accumulated, planets or comets can be formed here. To investigate this possibility, we measured the amount of material."

In calculating the amount of material based on the sub-millimeter emission strength, the temperature of the material is an important parameter. The team estimated the temperature in the dense region from the observations of isotopomers of carbon monoxide. As a result, the team reached two possibilities; gravitational instability or grain accumulation.

If the abundance of dust and gas is comparable to that in typical environment in the universe (the mass ratio of dust and gas is 1 to 100), the dense region is massive enough to attract large amount of gas due to the self-gravity and form giant gaseous planets several times more massive than Jupiter. Although this is similar to the formation process of stars in cosmic clouds, it was the first time that the possibility of such a planet formation process was directly suggested by observations of protoplanetary disks.

The other possibility is the formation of "dust trap" in which the abundance of dust is exceptionally higher than the other part of the disk. If the dust trap is formed in the disk, earth-like rocky planets, small bodies such as comets, or cores of gaseous planets may be formed. In both cases, it is highly possible that planets are being formed in the dense part of the disk around HD142527.

The basics of the two planet formation processes mentioned above were predicted theoretically more than 30 years ago. Astronomers assume that the planet formation of our solar system began with collision and coalescence of huge amount of dust (grain accumulation model). The concentration of dust would grow into a number of cores of planets (protoplanets), and these cores evolve into planets through numerous collisions and coalescences. Some of the cores capture massive atmosphere to form gaseous giants. Astronomers also assume that some planets in other planetary systems were formed by gravitational instability.

In both model, it was thought that the planet formation processes occur close to the central star (around Jupiter and Saturn orbit) in planetary systems similar to our Solar System, but the new ALMA results undermine this conventional assumption. Munetake Momose, a team member and a professor at Ibaraki University says "Seeing the site of planet formation directly is one of the most important goals for ALMA. Our observations successfully located a unique candidate in an unexpectedly distant place from the central star. I believe that ALMA will bring us more surprising results."

Future prospects

The research team found out two possibilities in the planet formation process which is taking place in the disk around HD142527. The next step will be a precise measurement of the amount of gas to identify which process is involved. The team will continue detailed observations using ALMA with improved capability.

Fukagawa says "HD142527 is a peculiar object, as far as our limited knowledge goes. However, other asymmetrical protoplanetary disks have been discovered since the early ALMA science operation started. Our final goal is to reveal the major physical process which controls the formation of planets. To achieve this goal, it is important to obtain a comprehensive view of the planet formation through observations of many protoplanetary disks. We hope to be part of this great venture."...

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/ALMA_Discovers_a_Formation_Site_of_a_Giant_Planetary_System_999.html.

Water Found on Dwarf Planet Ceres, May Erupt from Ice Volcanoes

by Tanya Lewis
January 22, 2014

Astronomers have discovered direct evidence of water on the dwarf planet Ceres in the form of vapor plumes erupting into space, possibly from volcano-like ice geysers on its surface.

Using European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory, scientists detected water vapor escaping from two regions on Ceres, a dwarf planet that is also the largest asteroid in the solar system. The water is likely erupting from icy volcanoes or sublimation of ice into clouds of vapor.

"This is the first clear-cut detection of water on Ceres and in the asteroid belt in general," said Michael Küppers of the European Space Agency, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain, leader of the study detailed today (Jan. 22) in the journal Nature.

The research has implications for how Ceres formed, and supports models that suggest the planets moved around a lot within the solar system during its formation, Küppers told SPACE.com.

Ceres, a dwarf planet or giant asteroid (depending on the definition used), is the largest object in the asteroid belt, orbiting at 2.8 astronomical units (the distance from Earth to the sun). The "snowline" is thought to partition the solar system into dry objects inside the asteroid belt, and icy objects such as comets further out. But the finding of water on Ceres suggests more mixing has occurred.

Scientists have suspected that there is a substantial amount of water on Ceres for about 30 years. A study found hints of water in the form of hydroxide, a product of water's dissociation, on Ceres in 1991, but the finding wasn't confirmed by later observations. Now, Küppers and his colleagues have confirmed the finding.

The researchers used the Herschel Space Observatory's spectrometer to look for signals of water. Clouds of water vapor around Ceres absorbed the heat that radiates from the dwarf planet, which Herschel's instrument detected. The team found that Ceres produces about 2×10^26 molecules, or 13 lbs. (6 kilograms), of water vapor per second from its surface.

One possible source of the water is icy volcanism. "It is like volcanism in that hot material from the interior is 'spat out' to the surface," Küppers said — much like a geyser. But these icy volcanoes eject water vapor instead of molten rock, he said.

Another possibility is that ice near the surface of Ceres sublimes, or goes directly from a solid to a gas, dragging with it dust from the surface and exposing more ice. A similar process occurs on comets.

"I personally consider cometary-style sublimation the most likely source, because I find it difficult to maintain the internal heat over the age of the solar system to maintain volcanoes," Küppers said, but he added that more studies were needed.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft, set to go into orbit around Ceres in early 2015, could answer some questions about the water on Ceres. Dawn recently visited the asteroid Vesta, a baked world whose surface is covered with volcanic eruptions.

"One of the most puzzling questions about the origin and evolution of asteroids is why Vesta and Ceres are so different," astrophysicists Humberto Campins and Christine Comfort at the University of Central Florida in Orlando wrote in an article in the same issue of Nature.

Water vapor can transport a lot of heat, so when Ceres formed 4.6 billion years ago, sublimation of water ice might have dissipated much of its heat into space, Campins and Comfort wrote. "This would have stopped Ceres from ending up with an igneous surface like that of Vesta."

Detecting water on Ceres supports models of the solar system in which giant planets, such as Jupiter, migrated to their current positions, mixing material from the outer and inner regions of the solar system. This mixing could have moved Ceres and Vesta far from the sites where they formed. Ceres probably formed close to its current position, but accreted material from further out, Küppers said.

The findings also suggest that asteroids may have delivered some of the water in Earth's oceans.

Source: SPACE.com.
Link: http://www.space.com/24366-dwarf-planet-ceres-water-ice-volcanoes.html.

On charm offensive, Iran leader sets lofty goals

January 23, 2014

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — In a charm offensive to the global political and business elite, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani set lofty ambitions for his country, including becoming one of the world's top 10 economies.

The first Iranian leader in a decade to visit the World Economic Forum, Rouhani took top billing Thursday at the World Economic Forum, drawing crowds to hear a speech in which he promised greater engagement with the world.

Touting the potential investment opportunities of the oil-rich land to the business tycoons in the audience, Rouhani said his country could, with the gradual easing of sanctions, enjoy an economic boom.

And Tehran, he said, is committed to honoring a deal to curb its nuclear program in the hope that will lead to a permanent lifting of economic sanctions, which have battered the Iranian economy over recent years.

"I see the status of Iran pursuing policies of moderation, prudence and hope in the future global economy," said Rouhani. "Iran's economy has so far the potential to be among the world's top 10 in the next three decades."

For 2012, the International Monetary Fund judged Iran to be the 21st biggest economy in the world in terms of annual economic income, or nominal gross domestic product. To get into the top 10 it would have to leapfrog the likes of Switzerland, Turkey and Spain.

Rouhani's attendance was eagerly awaited as it coincided with the lifting of some of the sanctions, as well as the country's exclusion from Syrian peace talks being held just a few hours' drive away. The forum, which brings together about 2,500 political and business leaders, was the perfect stage for Rouhani to deliver a diplomatic message while seeking to engage with potential investors.

And in an attempt to soften concerns that sanctions will remain a feature of life for Iran, Rouhani emphasized that Tehran will abide by the terms of a deal with world powers to limit its nuclear program. The two sides will try to make the deal permanent over the next six months.

"We intend to reopen trade, industrial and economic relations, with all of our neighbors," Rouhani said. Iran, he claimed, is "fully prepared and ready to engage with all neighboring countries" to reach solutions on issues including business ventures, environmental concerns, Palestinian rights, Persian Gulf security and Syria's humanitarian crisis.

Iran has huge riches at its disposal, particularly oil and gas, the work force is skilled and the country has untapped potential for tourism. But the country has largely been cut off from international business since the Iranian Revolution in 1979. The sanctions, which have grown in recent years in response to Iran's nuclear program, have hit the economy hard.

"Rapprochement with the West will help stabilize Iran's economy," said Bryan Plamondon, senior economist at IHS. Rouhani said he hopes Iran's historical deep economic ties with Europe will be normalized and suggested that negotiations with the U.S. could pave the way to better relations. He reiterated that Iran has no intention of acquiring nuclear weapons but has the right to continue pursuing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In a sign of the normalization of relations, the International Monetary Fund is sending a mission to Tehran in two days — for the first time in years — for an in-depth review of the economy. "I am very pleased we can reset the relationship on a sound footing," Christine Lagarde said in a discussion in Davos.

She said she met Rouhani at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last year and found him to be "a sensible policymaker, one that is well-versed in economic matters, who seems to be very much aware of the challenges, who has ambition for a reset of Iran vis-a-vis the rest of the world."

One leader who was not taken in by Rouhani was Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told the forum in a speech of his own that Iran remains a concern across the region, not just for Israel.

"They say they oppose nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said. "Why do they insist on maintaining the ballistic missiles and the plutonium, and the advanced centrifuges that are only used for the production of nuclear weapons?

"I wish it was real. It isn't real," he said. Netanyahu has been a fierce critic of the U.S.-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, saying they don't go far enough to put the brakes on a country that supports Hezbollah, the militant group that has been vying with Israel for control of the region's power balance.

The Israeli leader also blamed Iran for being involved in the violence in Syria. "Iran, with the Revolutionary Guards, on the ground in Syria, is facilitating the mass slaughter," Netanyahu said, referring to Iran's elite military unit.

Rouhani suggested that "the best solution is to organize free and fair elections." Iran's Shiite-led government and financial support is central to President Bashar Assad's grip on power. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will be another a point of focus of talks at Davos, particularly for U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was also at the event, fresh from the Syrian peace conference in the nearby cities of Montreux and Geneva.

Both sides resumed peace talks in July under heavy American pressure, the first time they had done so in almost five years. There have been virtually no signs of progress, however. Kerry is working to get a framework deal in April.

Adam P. Pemble contributed to this report.