PARIS, Jan 29: Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has told French lawmakers that Iran is at "the point of no-return" on building nuclear weapons, according to a transcript of his remarks to the National Assembly made public on Friday.

Mr Mofaz, who warned openly in London this week that Iran would not be permitted to build a nuclear bomb, has in the past said that Israel has operational plans in place for a strike against Iranian targets.

Mr Mofaz told the French National Assembly's defence commission that "he ardently hoped that a recourse to military action would not be necessary" in Iran, according the transcript of the Tuesday meeting.

But he said that to avoid this, there would have to be careful inspections aimed at removing any ambiguity about the existence of a military nuclear project.

Even if Iran recognized Israel's existence, Mr Mofaz said "the possession of a nuclear weapon by an extremist regime is not acceptable."-AFP