|
 President Barack Obama, hoping to sway skeptics at home and abroad
to get behind the framework agreement struck on Thursday between
world powers and Iran, defended the deal as the best hope to prevent
Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Obama, whose relations with Netanyahu have frayed badly over the
Iran issue, sought to assure Israelis he understands their concerns.
They should know "there is no formula, there is no option, to
prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that will be more
effective than the diplomatic initiative and framework that we put
forward - and that’s demonstrable," he said in an interview with The
New York Times published on Sunday. (http://nyti.ms/1IhMLSS)
The Israeli prime minister has been strongly critical of the deal
struck on Thursday in Switzerland, saying it threatens the survival
of Israel. Netanyahu said he has spoken with both Democrats and
Republicans in Congress - nearly two thirds of House of
Representatives members and a similar number in the U.S. Senate -
about the Iran nuclear issue.
In appearances on U.S. television on Sunday, Netanyahu did not
repeat his assertion on Friday that any final agreement should
include a commitment by Iran recognizing Israel's right to exist.
 But, speaking on CNN's "State of the Union" program, he said of the
deal, "This is not a partisan issue. This is not solely an Israeli
issue. This is a world issue because everyone is going to be
threatened by the pre-eminent terrorist state of our time, keeping
the infrastructure to produce not one nuclear bomb but many, many
nuclear bombs down the line."
Netanyahu angered the White House and alienated some of Obama's
Democrats when he accepted a Republican invitation to address
Congress and speak out against the looming agreement on March 3, two
weeks before the Israeli elections that returned him to office.
Netanyahu denied he was coordinating with House of Representatives
Speaker John Boehner, who visited Israel last week, and with other
Republicans to block the Iran deal.
But he denounced the framework agreement between Iran and the United
States, Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, saying, "There's
still time to get a better deal and apply pressure to Iran to roll
back its nuclear program."
Israel, which is believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the
Middle East, says it believes Iran is committed to its destruction.
LEGISLATION IN THE WORKS
Obama told Netanyahu in a telephone call soon after the deal was
reached that it represented progress toward a lasting solution that
cuts off Iran's path to a nuclear weapon. Iran has long maintained
that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes.
Republicans, who control both chambers in Congress, and some
Democrats are preparing legislation that would entail a vote in
Congress on any Iran deal. Senator Bob Corker, the Republican
chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was
waiting to learn more details about the framework agreement.
[to top of second column] |
"I don't know how someone can ascertain whether this is something
good or bad," he said on "Fox News Sunday."
Obama has said he would veto legislation demanding an up-or-down
vote in Congress on any final deal worked out with Iran by the
deadline of the end of June that has been agreed by Iran and the six
powers.
Corker said it was unclear whether opponents of the deal would be
able to muster the votes to override such a veto.
Netanyahu said he had an hourlong conversation with Obama. Asked on
CNN if he trusted Obama, Netanyahu said he was sure the president
was doing what he thought was good for his country, but they
disagreed about the best policy on Iran.
In his interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman,
Obama sought to assure Israel of firm U.S. support.
"Not only am I absolutely committed to making sure that they
maintain their qualitative military edge, and that they can deter
any potential future attacks, but what I'm willing to do is to make
the kinds of commitments that would give everybody in the
neighborhood, including Iran, a clarity that if Israel were to be
attacked by any state, that we would stand by them."
He said he was troubled by being perceived as less than supportive
of Israel, telling Friedman, "It has been personally difficult for
me to hear ... expressions that somehow ... this administration has
not done everything it could to look out for Israel’s interest."
While he was upbeat about the nuclear deal, Obama said the issue was
not the only division between Washington and Tehran. The nuclear
deal should be a single issue, and the United States at the same
time wanted to send "a clear message to the Iranians that you have
to change your behavior more broadly and that we are going to
protect our allies if you continue to engage in destabilizing
aggressive activity," Obama said.
(Additional reporting by June Torbati, Howard Schneider and Eric
Walsh; Editing by David Storey and Frances Kerry)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
