Tags : iran, robert gates
Gates: U.S. Offer Of Talks To Iran Only Until September
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) – In Jerusalem for talks on the peace process and Middle East security, Defense Sec. Robert Gates on Monday said the Obama administration is hoping for Iran to respond U.S. offers of diplomacy regarding its nuclear program by September, when the United Nations General Assembly opens.
A nuclear-armed Iran “would be profoundly destabilizing to the entire region and a threat certainly to Israel, the United States and other countries in the region,” Gates said in a press conference after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
“The president is fully aware that the Iranians may simply try to run out the clock,” he added. “I think the president is hoping for some kind of response by this fall… achieving long-term security for Israel is ultimately dependent on a sustainable, comprehensive Middle East peace.”
U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell is also in the region in a separate trip and will meet with Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Iran has received international condemnation for its nuclear proliferation program, which it has said is for non-military purposes.
The United States is part of a group of six nations called the P5+1 that are in talks with Iran about denuclearization. The group includes China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom.
There is concern that Israel, perceiving an existential threat, may decide to act unilaterally and strike at Iran to end the Islamic nation’s nuclear program, a decision Barak did not discount during his talks with Gates.
“Israel retains its position that no option should be taken off the table,” he said. “Of course, at this stage, priority still should be given to diplomacy and international cooperation.”
Iran has received three sets of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear program. In February, it announced that it had launched its first locally made satellite into orbit, prompting concerns from Western nations.
The Islamic nation is also facing continued unrest over the results of its June 12 presidential elections. Only its 10th election since the 1979 revolution, massive rallies were held by pro and anti-government protesters in the days after incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. Opposiition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi had rejected the offer of a recount and called for new elections, citing evidence of “illegal activities” such as the “open involvement of some members of the government…. in favor of the incumbent,” voter intimidation, vote buying and loss of ballots and ballot boxes.
The turmoil has been cited by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in discussing the progress of nuclear talks with Iran towards a September deadline.
“There does not seem to be a capacity within Iran to be able to significantly respond to the offer of engagement that we have made in a number of different frames,” Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley said last week, elaborating Clinton’s statement. “We’ll have to wait and see
where Iran is and at what time they determine that they can kind of give us an indication of what they are either willing to or are able to do.”
“There are other avenues for engagement and potentially for cooperation in the context of Afghanistan and, of course, bilateral. But the ball is clearly in Iran’s court, and obviously, right now, the government has its hands full,” Crowley added.
Clinton is facing questions over her statement last week saying if the United States extends a “defense umbrella” over the Middle East, Iran will not be able to continue intimidating other states.
But the Secretary over the weekend refused to respond to the controversy caused by her remark, saying on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “It’s clear that we’re trying to affect the internal calculus of the Iranian regime. The Iranian Government, which is facing its own challenges of legitimacy from its people, has to know that its pursuit of nuclear weapons, something that our country along with our allies stand strongly against.”
“What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions that if you’re pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating… we’re not going to let that happen… your pursuit is futile,” she added.
Clinton also expressed assurance that although Israel is free to “act in the furtherance of their survival,” the United States has “a long, durable relationship” with Israel and both nations are working together with other allies to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear weapons state.
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- Update: U.N. Security Council Unanimously Adopts Obama’s Nuclear Arms Resolution
- Protestors In New York Join March To Protest Iran’s Post-Election Violence
- Iran News on Twitter: Blogged Live from Inside Iran #Iranelection
