Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is again clashing with US President Barack Obama over Iran's nuclear program. A day after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the US would not draw red lines for Iran, Netanyahu launched an unprecedented attack on the US administration, saying, "Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel."
At a joint press conference today with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, Netanyahu said, "So far we can say with certainty that diplomacy and sanctions haven’t worked. The sanctions have hurt the Iranian economy, but they haven’t stopped the Iranian nuclear program. That’s a fact. And the fact is that every day that passes, Iran gets closer and closer to nuclear bombs. If Iran knows that there is no red line, if Iran knows that there’s no deadline, what will it do? Exactly what it’s doing: It’s continuing without any interference towards obtaining nuclear weapons capability and from there nuclear bombs. The world tells Israel: Wait. There’s still time. And I say: Wait for what? Wait until when?"
At a press briefing yesterday, a White House spokesman said, "The President’s position, unequivocally, is that he is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and we share that view with Israel and Israel’s leadership in a way that has been made clear again and again. And that’s why the President has pursued the policy that he has that has put, together with our international partners, unrelenting pressure on Iran to abide by its international obligations and to forsake its nuclear weapons ambitions.
"We believe that there remains time and space for that effort to bear fruit, an effort that is focused on punitive sanctions to isolate and pressure Iran, and on diplomacy to bring about a change in behavior from Iran. But we’ve also made clear that the window of opportunity for reaching a solution by that means will not remain open indefinitely, and that the President retains all options on the table in the pursuit of his commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon."
"AP" today reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency has obtained intelligence which says that Iran is making progress on the development of nuclear warheads for long-range missiles.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 11, 2012
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2012