White House officials agreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\’s assessment that sanctions have not set back Iran\’s suspected nuclear weapons program, but counseled patience.
Israel has responded to the failure of the latest nuclear talks between world powers and Iran with a familiar refrain: sanctions must be ramped up while the clock ticks down toward possible military action.
Israel still has time to strike Iran and the right to decide for itself whether to do so, Vice President Joe Biden said.
Iran\’s nuclear strategy could eventually allow it to build an atomic bomb with just 60 days\’ notice, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday.
Israel\’s military chief said he does not believe Iran will decide to build an atomic bomb and called its leaders \”very rational\” – comments that clashed with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\’s assessment.
Ever since their first awkward encounter – a hastily arranged meeting in a custodian\’s office at a Washington airport in 2007 – Iran has been one of the few issues on which Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu have been able to find some common ground.
Israel test-fired a ballistic missile on Wednesday, Israel Radio said, amid a heightened public debate over the possibility of an Israeli attack against Iran\’s nuclear program.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel will react firmly, responsibly and wisely to a recent wave of Palestinian violence.
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