The United States are now considering the use of surgical strikes, rather than heavy-handed attacks, to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Israel's outgoing defence minister, Ehud Barak, said Thursday at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, DPA reported.
Israel and the US have not ruled out airstrikes against Iran, should diplomatic efforts fail.
Barack said the US military plans had been changed under the administration of President Barack Obama to "extremely fine scalpels."
"I used to scorn my American friends, I used to tell them: When we talk about surgical operations, we think of scalpels - you think of a chisel with a 10-pound hammer," he said at the meeting of government and business leaders in the Swiss town.
At the same time, Barak made clear that his preferred option was for ongoing diplomatic efforts by the US, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China to produce results.
A new round of nuclear talks between the group of six and Iran has been tentatively scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, but there has been no agreement on a venue.
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salehi said Wednesday that Cairo could be a possible venue, after the six-country group had previously lobbied for Istanbul.
"Iran keeps making counterproposals and counterproposals and delaying," a Western diplomat told dpa.