Israel Matzav

Good news: Sanctions on Iran only 'months' away

Hillary Clinton advanced the probability of an Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear weapons facilities on Monday night.

Clinton told reporters traveling with her in South America that a new sanctions resolution is likely to come before the United Nations Security Council sometime in the next several months.

That's far later than the United States once hoped for, in part because of reluctance among some other members of the Security Council.

Clinton is recruiting support for the Iran penalties. She said she would make sure that the president of Brazil, which has close ties to Iran, knows the extent of world alarm over Iran's activities.

Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who for the last two weeks has loudly been calling for sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, received strong backing when visiting US Sen. John Kerry supported the move.

Kerry, the powerful head of the Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee, said he “absolutely” supported sanctions against Iran’s energy industry.

“I believe that the most biting and important sanctions would be those on the energy side,” Kerry told a press conference, after meeting Netanyahu.

Curiously, Kerry told a press conference that the US and Israel are on the 'same page' and that he did not expect Israel to 'jump the gun' by striking Iran.

How long does Kerry think Netanyahu will wait?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:56 AM