U.S. President Barack ObamaI've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go...
warned a premature attack on Iran would allow it to play the "victim" in the nuclear crisis, noting that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir
Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's "days are numbered," in remarks published Friday days before he meets Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.
In some of his toughest comments yet on Tehran's nuclear drive, Obama also warned Israel and Iran should take seriously possible U.S. action against Iranian nuclear facilities if sanctions fail to stop the country's atomic ambitions.
"I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff," Obama told the Atlantic Monthly magazine.
"I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."
Netanyahu arrived in Canada early Friday ahead of discussions Monday with Obama at the White House, and the Israeli leader this week said Iran's nuclear program will be "at the center of our talks."
Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only but Western nations suspect the Islamic republic is leading a covert program to develop a nuclear weapons capability and is not far from achieving its goal.
Netanyahu's government has maintained that all options remain on the table with regard to action on Iran, whose firebrand
...
firebrandsare noted more for audio volume and the quantity of spittle generated than for any actual logic in their arguments...
leader
Mahmoud Short RoundAhmadinejad has questioned Israel's right to exist.
But Obama issued a blunt warning against any premature strike.
"At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?" Obama said.
Even if Israel were not a specific target of Iran's wrath, Obama said "it would still be a profound national-security interest of the United States to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon."
Obama said the U.S. strategy to thwart Iran's ambitions of developing a nuclear weapon included various components, including isolating Tehran politically, sanctions and diplomacy.
"And it includes a military component. And I think people understand that," Obama said, adding he thought Americans did not believe that "I hesitate to make decisions as commander in chief when necessary."