WarSclerotic

Israel Not Preparing to Attack Iran, Obama Says – NYTimes.com.

By SCOTT SHANE

President Obama said Sunday that he did not believe Israel was preparing to attack Iran to disrupt its nuclear program and that diplomacy remained the “preferred solution” to resolving the standoff over what Western leaders believe is Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

 

In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC, broadcast before the Super Bowl on Sunday night, the president also said that administration officials “don’t see any evidence” that Iran had the “intentions or capabilities” to mount an attack on United States soil in retaliation for a strike on its nuclear facilities.

 

Asked by Mr. Lauer if he deserved a second term, Mr. Obama said he did, despite the slow economic recovery.

 

“I deserve a second term, but we’re not done,” Mr. Obama said. “We’ve made progress, and the thing right now is to just make sure we don’t start turning in a new direction that could throw that progress off.”

 

Much of the interview, however, focused on the issue of Iran.

 

Mr. Obama’s remarks appeared to be intended to ratchet down emotions after a series of alarming public statements and reports. Leon E. Panetta, the defense secretary, did not dispute a report last week by David Ignatius of the Washington Post that Mr. Panetta believed Israel might strike Iran this spring.

 

And on Tuesday, the director of national intelligence, James R. Clapper Jr., said in testimony to the Senate that the apparent plot to kill the Saudi envoy in Washington showed that Iranian leaders “have changed their calculus and are now more willing to conduct an attack in the United States in response to real or perceived U.S. actions that threaten the regime.”

 

Mr. Obama said he shared Israel’s concern about a nuclear-armed Iran.

 

“I don’t think Israel has made a decision. I think they, like us, believe that Iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program,” Mr. Obama said in the interview, broadcast live from the White House. “Until they do, I think Israel rightly is going to be very concerned, and we are as well.”

 

Mr. Obama noted that his administration had worked to escalate sanctions against Iran. “We have mobilized the international community in a way that is unprecedented, and they are feeling the pinch. They are feeling the pressure,” he said.

 

In keeping with longstanding American policy, Mr. Obama did not rule out military action by the United States if diplomacy failed and if Iran moved close to building a nuclear bomb.

 

“I’ve been very clear that we’re going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating an arms race, a nuclear arms race, in a volatile region,” he said.

He declined to describe conversations between American and Israeli officials, but said that “we are going to make sure we work in lock step and work to resolve this, hopefully diplomatically.”

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