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Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-leiter-transcript-face-the-nation-04-12-2026/
Israel's U.S. Ambassador: The Vice President Saw How Obstinate the Iranians Are in Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons
(CBS News) Margaret Brennan - Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter told "Face the Nation" on April 12: "The vice president sat opposite this fellow, [Iran's chief negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher] Qalibaf, who is directly responsible for the murder of his own people this past January, and just saw how obdurate and obstinate they are in pursuit of nuclear weapons." "The President gave the issue two weeks, and we're just into the end of the first week, so there is another week left for the potential for continued talks. We know the Iranians. We know this regime. We don't think they're going anywhere, but it's important to give it a chance." "A civilian nuclear program doesn't entail enrichment. There are 57 countries with a civilian nuclear program that don't have enrichment....Look, you don't build these production plants deep underground if you're doing [uranium enrichment] for medical purposes; you have nothing to hide. These people lie. We shouldn't be surprised when people who murder their own also lie. This has been their pursuit. They've been chanting for 47 years, 'death to America, death to Israel.' That's their goal." Q: "There was this highly detailed New York Times report this past week...that detailed this Feb. 11 meeting where your prime minister pitched President Trump on bombing Iran. It said the Israeli plan was to...spur a popular uprising in Iran, and then conduct regime change, leaving in place a secular leader." Leiter: "I was in the room at that meeting. The journalists who wrote that article were not, and apparently they received the information second, third hand. There's an awful lot in that article which simply isn't true....We argued the potential, that we've got to work towards that. Nothing was presented as a fact, that if we do this, this will be the outcome."