Israel Matzav

Clinton stokes the fire

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton apparently thought that outgoing Mossad director Meir Dagan went too far on Thursday when he said that Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons before 2015. Fearing that the sanctions against Iran would start to come apart, Clinton chose to moderate Dagan's claims during meetings with Arab leaders in the Persian Gulf.

Clinton told reporters accompanying her on a three-nation tour of the Persian Gulf that Iran "remains a serious concern" no matter when it might be able to produce a nuclear weapon. And she urged countries in the region that do business with Iran "to do everything within reason" to help ensure the sanctions are enforced.

"We have had a consistent message to our friends in the Gulf that there is no part of the world that has more at stake in trying to deter Iran from becoming the creator and possessor of nuclear weapons than you," she said.

"I don't know that it gives much comfort to someone who is in the Gulf or in a country that Iran has vowed to destroy that it's a one-year or three-year timeframe. So, I think we should keep the focus where it belongs," she said, referring to the sanctions and efforts by world powers to persuade Iran to halt uranium enrichment.

Her comments were the first from a senior US official in response to reports on Friday that newly retired spy chief Meir Dagan thinks Iran won't be able to build a nuclear bomb before 2015, further pushing back Israeli intelligence estimates of when Teheran might become a nuclear power.

"We don't want anyone to be misled by anyone's intelligence analysis," Clinton said. "This remains a serious concern. We expect all our partners ... to stay as focused as they can and do everything within reason that will help to implement these sanctions."

On a television program in the Emirates, Clinton also talked up the sanctions.

"The most recent analysis is that the sanctions have been working. They have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambitions," Mrs. Clinton said during an appearance on the Emirati talk show, "Sweet Talk."

"Their program, from our best estimate, has been slowed down," she said. "So we have time. But not a lot of time."

...

U.S. officials, in private, have been saying in recent months that they believed Iran was experiencing significant difficulties in acquiring the raw materials to upgrade the centrifuge machines it has used to enrich uranium. They particularly cited shortages of such materials as carbon-fiber and maraging steel, which are critical to building the rotor tubes used in centrifuges and the stabilizing systems that keep the machines from breaking part.

Still, many U.S. officials have been reluctant to speak publicly about these successes, due to fears such assessments could dampen international resolve to continue through with tighter economic sanctions on Iran.

It will be interesting to see who, if anyone, tries to take credit for Stuxnet once the US Presidential elections start in earnest.

Labels: Hillary Clinton, Iran sanctions regime, Meir Dagan

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 9:26 PM