<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile — Obama reverses Biden, warns Netanyahu publicly and privately on Iran

Obama reverses Biden, warns Netanyahu publicly and privately on Iran

Friday, July 10, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

WASHINGTON — Government sources said the administration of President Barack Obama relayed a warning to Israel that Washington has not changed its opposition to an Israeli strike option against Iran.

The sources said the warning by the White House was meant to clarify a statement by Vice President Joseph Biden two days earlier on July 5.

"The administration made it very clear to Israel that Biden's statement was misunderstood and that Washington would not tolerate any Israeli strike on Iran," a government source said.

On July 7, Obama issued a direct warning to Israel against planning an attack on Iran. The president said Iran's nuclear program must be resolved through diplomatic means.

The sources said the administration sent a similar message through private channels to the government of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. They said the administration warned Israel not to take any action that would disrupt the U.S. reconciliation effort with Iran.

Biden on July 5 stated: "Israel can determine for itself — it's a sovereign nation — what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden said.

Obama, on the other hand state: "We have said directly to the Israelis that it is important to try and resolve this in an international setting in a way that does not create major conflict in the Middle East,"

Biden said in a television interview that the United States did not have the right to stop an attack by Israel or any other sovereign country. The vice president's statement was regarded in Israel and the West as tacit approval for an imminent Israeli attack on Teheran.

   WorldTribune Home