(Bloomberg) Indira A.R. Lakshmanan - The U.S. is "not setting deadlines" for Iran and still considers negotiations as "by far the best approach" to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview Saturday. Asked if the Obama administration will lay out sharper "red lines" for Iran or state explicitly the consequences of failing to negotiate a deal with world powers by a certain date, Clinton said, "We're not setting deadlines." While the U.S. and Israel share the goal that Iran not acquire a nuclear weapon, Clinton said there is a difference in perspective over the time horizon for talks. "They're more anxious about a quick response because they feel that they're right in the bull's-eye, so to speak," Clinton said. "But we're convinced that we have more time to focus on these sanctions, to do everything we can to bring Iran to a good-faith negotiation." Asked what Israel was telling the Obama administration, Clinton said: "They feel that it would be an existential threat if Iran were a nuclear-weaponized state, and no nation can abdicate their self-defense if they feel that they're facing such a threat."
2012-09-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive