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US-Israel rift over Iran nukes now in the open
By Tom Cohen, CNN
November 19, 2013 -- Updated 0607 GMT (1407 HKT)
Washington (CNN) -- What had been speculated before is now very public -- the United States and Israel differ on how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions.
While both governments reject any possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran, they are clearly at odds over a possible agreement as soon as this week that would loosen economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for a suspension of part of its nuclear program.
"It's a bad deal -- an exceedingly bad deal," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday of the agreement sought by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at international talks in Geneva.
White House spokesman Jay Carney argued Monday that the negotiations offered a diplomatic solution, telling reporters that "rejecting negotiations means choosing" the use of force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In a sign of the level of disconnect, the two countries were unable to agree on when Kerry would next travel to Israel for talks with Netanyahu on the Iranian issue.
Netanyahu said Sunday that Kerry would meet with him on Friday, but Kerry told reporters Monday he would be unable to make the trip so soon.
The split involves international diplomacy and domestic political issues in both countries, and comes as Kerry and U.S. President Barack Obama also push Netanyahu to work with Palestinian officials on forging a Middle East peace agreement.
While Netanyahu and Obama have long acknowledged that close friends can disagree on issues, the direct language on both sides about their differences over a possible agreement with Iran showed the volatility of an issue with major regional and global implications.
Iran insists it only seeks to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but the international community led by Israel, the United States, France and others demands that Tehran dismantle its ability to enrich uranium and other technology needed to develop nuclear weapons.
In an interview Sunday on CNN, Netanyahu made clear he opposed lifting some sanctions now -- as called for under the agreement being negotiated -- without getting further concessions to ensure Iran would be unable to continue with uranium enrichment and other steps.
"I think you should not only keep up the pressure; I think you should increase the pressure, because it's finally working," Netanyahu said, labeling Iran's economy as close to paralysis. "If you give it up now, when you have that pressure, and Iran doesn't even take apart, dismantle one centrifuge, what leverage will you have when you've eased the pressure?"
At the same time, he repeated his insistence that Israel "always reserves the right to defend itself against any threat," which is diplomatic speak for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities to stop development of a weapon.
In Congress, some legislators including conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats share the concerns of Netanyahu and the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both question the merits of the Iran deal under discussion and instead call for tougher sanctions.
"Iran has the right to a civilian, peaceful nuclear program, but they have no right under international law to enrich" uranium needed to develop nuclear weapons, Menendez told MSNBC last week.
However, Carney said Monday that the interim agreement under discussion in Geneva offered only "modest and eminently reversible" sanctions relief to Iran, rather than a fundamental shift in the sanctions architecture.
He described it as the first part of a two-phase process intended to reach a more comprehensive deal in which Iranian leaders would have to show in a "verifiable, transparent way that they have forsaken nuclear weapons ambitions."
"The end goal here is shared by everyone," Carney said of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. "There's no daylight here between the United States and Israel."
Kerry told reporters Monday that Netanyahu had "every right in the world" to state his position and defend his interests.
At the same time, the former U.S. senator noted that he had been a consistent supporter of "our friends in Israel" throughout his political career, and added that "I can assure those friends and everybody watching this that nothing that we are doing here, in my judgment, will put Israel at any additional risk."
The Geneva talks involve Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and France -- as well as Germany in what is known as the P5+1 in diplomatic shorthand.
According to a senior U.S. administration official, the talks are "getting close" to an interim deal with Iran that would prevent its nuclear program "from advancing, and roll it back" in key areas. The last round of negotiations broke up without a deal earlier this month, with each side blaming the other's reluctance.
Carney said Monday that Obama would meet on Tuesday with Senate leaders as well as the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking, Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committee to provide an update on the P5+1 negotiations heading into the next round later this week.
Last week, Kerry told a Senate panel that new sanctions on Iran now by Congress "could be viewed as bad faith" in the negotiations.
"It could destroy the ability to be able to get agreement," he added, "and it could actually wind up setting us back in dialogue that's taken 30 years to achieve."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was elected earlier this year, has made lifting tough economic sanctions against his country a priority.
During a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in September, Rouhani's moderate diplomatic approach raised hopes in the West of a thaw in relations with Tehran and progress in negotiations on its nuclear program.
Rouhani's visit culminated in a phone call with Obama and a meeting between Kerry and his Iranian counterpart. It was the first such high-level contact between the two enemies since Iran's 1979 revolution.
Iran recently signed a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency that agrees to give the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency access to long-unseen nuclear sites, including a heavy-water reactor in Arak.
CNN's Elise Labott, Jim Acosta, Jill Dougherty, Jason Seher, Ted Barrett, Jamie Crawford and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
By Tom Cohen, CNN
November 19, 2013 -- Updated 0607 GMT (1407 HKT)
Washington (CNN) -- What had been speculated before is now very public -- the United States and Israel differ on how to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions.
While both governments reject any possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran, they are clearly at odds over a possible agreement as soon as this week that would loosen economic sanctions against Tehran in exchange for a suspension of part of its nuclear program.
"It's a bad deal -- an exceedingly bad deal," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN on Sunday of the agreement sought by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at international talks in Geneva.
White House spokesman Jay Carney argued Monday that the negotiations offered a diplomatic solution, telling reporters that "rejecting negotiations means choosing" the use of force to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In a sign of the level of disconnect, the two countries were unable to agree on when Kerry would next travel to Israel for talks with Netanyahu on the Iranian issue.
Netanyahu said Sunday that Kerry would meet with him on Friday, but Kerry told reporters Monday he would be unable to make the trip so soon.
The split involves international diplomacy and domestic political issues in both countries, and comes as Kerry and U.S. President Barack Obama also push Netanyahu to work with Palestinian officials on forging a Middle East peace agreement.
While Netanyahu and Obama have long acknowledged that close friends can disagree on issues, the direct language on both sides about their differences over a possible agreement with Iran showed the volatility of an issue with major regional and global implications.
Iran insists it only seeks to use nuclear power for peaceful purposes, but the international community led by Israel, the United States, France and others demands that Tehran dismantle its ability to enrich uranium and other technology needed to develop nuclear weapons.
In an interview Sunday on CNN, Netanyahu made clear he opposed lifting some sanctions now -- as called for under the agreement being negotiated -- without getting further concessions to ensure Iran would be unable to continue with uranium enrichment and other steps.
"I think you should not only keep up the pressure; I think you should increase the pressure, because it's finally working," Netanyahu said, labeling Iran's economy as close to paralysis. "If you give it up now, when you have that pressure, and Iran doesn't even take apart, dismantle one centrifuge, what leverage will you have when you've eased the pressure?"
At the same time, he repeated his insistence that Israel "always reserves the right to defend itself against any threat," which is diplomatic speak for a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities to stop development of a weapon.
In Congress, some legislators including conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats share the concerns of Netanyahu and the powerful pro-Israel lobby in Washington.
Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey and GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina both question the merits of the Iran deal under discussion and instead call for tougher sanctions.
"Iran has the right to a civilian, peaceful nuclear program, but they have no right under international law to enrich" uranium needed to develop nuclear weapons, Menendez told MSNBC last week.
However, Carney said Monday that the interim agreement under discussion in Geneva offered only "modest and eminently reversible" sanctions relief to Iran, rather than a fundamental shift in the sanctions architecture.
He described it as the first part of a two-phase process intended to reach a more comprehensive deal in which Iranian leaders would have to show in a "verifiable, transparent way that they have forsaken nuclear weapons ambitions."
"The end goal here is shared by everyone," Carney said of preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. "There's no daylight here between the United States and Israel."
Kerry told reporters Monday that Netanyahu had "every right in the world" to state his position and defend his interests.
At the same time, the former U.S. senator noted that he had been a consistent supporter of "our friends in Israel" throughout his political career, and added that "I can assure those friends and everybody watching this that nothing that we are doing here, in my judgment, will put Israel at any additional risk."
The Geneva talks involve Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Great Britain and France -- as well as Germany in what is known as the P5+1 in diplomatic shorthand.
According to a senior U.S. administration official, the talks are "getting close" to an interim deal with Iran that would prevent its nuclear program "from advancing, and roll it back" in key areas. The last round of negotiations broke up without a deal earlier this month, with each side blaming the other's reluctance.
Carney said Monday that Obama would meet on Tuesday with Senate leaders as well as the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Banking, Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committee to provide an update on the P5+1 negotiations heading into the next round later this week.
Last week, Kerry told a Senate panel that new sanctions on Iran now by Congress "could be viewed as bad faith" in the negotiations.
"It could destroy the ability to be able to get agreement," he added, "and it could actually wind up setting us back in dialogue that's taken 30 years to achieve."
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who was elected earlier this year, has made lifting tough economic sanctions against his country a priority.
During a visit to the U.N. General Assembly in September, Rouhani's moderate diplomatic approach raised hopes in the West of a thaw in relations with Tehran and progress in negotiations on its nuclear program.
Rouhani's visit culminated in a phone call with Obama and a meeting between Kerry and his Iranian counterpart. It was the first such high-level contact between the two enemies since Iran's 1979 revolution.
Iran recently signed a deal with the International Atomic Energy Agency that agrees to give the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency access to long-unseen nuclear sites, including a heavy-water reactor in Arak.
CNN's Elise Labott, Jim Acosta, Jill Dougherty, Jason Seher, Ted Barrett, Jamie Crawford and Greg Botelho contributed to this report.
