Israel Matzav

Red lines? What red lines?

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on Sunday that Israel and the United States are in discussions over red lines for Iran. If that's true, someone forgot to tell US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This is from the first link.

Israel is discussing with the US what kind of “red lines” need to be drawn to keep Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday.

Netanyahu, in a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation interview, said this could be “a clear delineation of a line which Iran cannot cross in its pursuit of the development of nuclear weapons capability. If Iran saw that, there is a chance, I won’t say it’s guaranteed, but there’s a chance they might pause before they cross that line.”

If that's true, why is Hillary Clinton making statements like this one?

Asked if the Obama administration will lay out sharper “red lines” for Iran or state explicitly the consequences of failing to negotiate a deal with world powers by a certain date, Clinton said, “We’re not setting deadlines.”

“We’re watching very carefully about what they do, because it’s always been more about their actions than their words,” Clinton said in the interview with Bloomberg Radio after wrapping up meetings at an Asia-Pacific forum in Vladivostok, Russia.

While the US and Israel share the goal that Iran not acquire a nuclear weapon, Clinton said there is a difference in perspective over the time horizon for talks.

“They’re more anxious about a quick response because they feel that they’re right in the bull’s-eye, so to speak,” Clinton said. “But we’re convinced that we have more time to focus on these sanctions, to do everything we can to bring Iran to a good-faith negotiation.”

After four years, I'm still trying to find the good cop in the Obama administration. I don't think there is one.

Labels: Binyamin Netanyahu, Hillary Clinton, Iran sanctions regime, Iranian nuclear threat

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:36 PM