Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel inserted himself into the most contentious foreign policy issue of the American presidential campaign on Tuesday, criticizing the Obama administration for refusing to set clear “red lines” on Iran’s nuclear progress that would prompt the United States to undertake a military strike. As a result, he said, the administration has no “moral right” to restrain Israel from taking military action of its own. Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu’s unusually harsh public comments about Israel’s most important ally, which closely track what he has reportedly said in vivid terms to American officials visiting Jerusalem, laid bare the tension between him and Obama over how to handle Iran. They also suggested he is willing to use the pressure of the presidential election to try to force Mr. Obama to commit to attack Iran under certain conditions. He appeared to be responding to a weekend statement by Secretary of State Clinton that the United States was “not setting deadlines” beyond which it would turn to a military solution. Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem, said, “Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don’t have a moral right to place a red light before Israel”. In another sign of tensions, the Israeli Embassy in Washington said late Tuesday that Obama administration had declined a request from Mr. Netanyahu’s office for a meeting with Mr. Obama when the Israeli leader attends the United Nations General Assembly this month. The Obama administration said the decision was due to a scheduling problem and had been conveyed to Israel long ago. On Tuesday night, Mr. Obama called Mr. Netanyahu to try to calm the situation. The two talked for a full hour, hashing through the Iran confrontation and their misunderstandings. “President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu reaffirmed they are united in their determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and agreed to continue their close consultations going forward,” the White House said in a statement after the phone call. White House also tried to tamp down controversy over the request for a meeting, saying that after a possible New York encounter was ruled out, Netanyahu did not request a meeting in Washington. “Contrary to reports in the press, there was never a request for Prime Minister Netanyahu to meet with President Obama in Washington, nor was a request for a meeting ever denied,” the statement said. United States says it has no evidence that Iranian leaders have made final decision to build a bomb. However, International Atomic Energy Agency’s latest report says the country has amassed a stockpile of low- and medium-enriched uranium that, with further enrichment, could fuel as many as six nuclear weapons. United States concluded several years ago Iran had suspended its nuclear weapons development program at the end of 2003, though there has been evidence of sporadic work since. Israelis say Iran is quietly reconstituting a much larger effort. In demanding that Mr. Obama effectively issue an ultimatum to Iran, Mr. Netanyahu appeared to be making maximum use of his political leverage at a time when Mr. Obama’s Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, has sought to make an issue of what Mr. Romney says is the administration’s lack of support for Israel (…..)
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/world/middleeast/united-states-and-israel-engage-in-public-spat-over-iran-policy.html
El ministro francés de Exteriores, Laurent Fabius, recibió en París al secretario general iberoamericano, Enrique Iglesias, a quien expresó «las nuevas orientaciones de Francia hacia ALC», indicó su departamento. En este sentido, el jefe de la diplomacia francesa señaló que París «espera reinvertir plenamente» en América Latina y «reforzar lazos cooperación y amistad, en particular en perspectiva de la cumbre entre Unión Europea y América Latina y el Caribe que se celebrará en Santiago de Chile» en enero próximo, precisó Ministerio Exteriores francés en un comunicado. La entrevista sirvió también para evocar la cooperación entre Francia y el secretariado iberoamericano, en vísperas de la Cumbre Iberoamericana que se celebrará en Cádiz (España), 16-17 noviembre próximos. Francia tiene, desde 2010, un estatus de observador asociado en el seno de la organización, reúne al conjunto de países habla hispana y portuguesa de América Latina y la península Ibérica. Iglesias se trasladó a París un día después de haber participado en Madrid en reunión ministerial iberoamericana. (Fuente: EFE – 12/09/2012)
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