"The crucial moment is not the day of the bomb," Livni said on CNN's "Late Edition." "The crucial moment is the day in which Iran will master the enrichment, the knowledge of enrichment."

Livni said she did not want to name a "point of no return," in Iran's development of nuclear weapons, because the Iranians "are trying to send a message that it's too late" for the international community to stop its nuclear program.

"It's not too late," she said. "They have a few more months."

Livni said the world "cannot afford" for Iran to have nuclear weapons.

"It's not only a threat to Israel," she said. "The recent understanding, also, of moderate Arab states is that Iran is a threat to the region."

Livni added that it was "time for sanctions" against Iran.

The United States has been pushing for sanctions to force Tehran to stop producing enriched uranium, which can be used both for both nuclear power and atomic weapons.

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