Washington (dpa) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared diplomacy and sanctions have not worked in stopping Iran's nuclear program and warned of the costs of waiting any longer to definitively end its alleged efforts to develop nuclear weapons. He said Monday that he has heard “plenty of talk” about the cost of stopping Iran but warned that it was time to think about the cost of not stopping Iran. “None of us can afford to wait much longer,” Netanyahu told 13,000 people at the annual gathering of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, an influential, pro-Israel US lobbying group. His speech punctuated months of rising tension over Iran's intransigence towards international demands that it stop its nuclear program, including uranium enrichment. There is growing suspicion by the international nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that Iran might be trying to hide a weapons program. As prime minister of Israel, I will never let my people live in the shadow of annihilation,” Netanyahu vowed to a cheering audience. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/22Nep Tags: Israel, Nuclear, sanctions, Tehran Section: Iran, Latest News, Palestine