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The Guardian
Barack Obama has answered continuing Israeli criticism of the framework agreement over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, telling the New York Times the deal is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see whether or not we can at least take the nuclear issue off the table”.The US president added: “There is no formula, there is no option, to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon that will be more effective than the diplomatic initiative and framework that we put forward – and that’s demonstrable.”
Two days after the announcement of the deal between Iran and the major world powers – achieved in Switzerland after 18 months of talks and which must be finalised by the end of June – Obama spoke to the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman at the White House for an interview that was published online on Sunday.
Al Jazeera America
President Barack Obama defended a framework nuclear agreement with Iran as a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to prevent development of a bomb and bring longer-term stability to the Middle East. He insisted the U.S. would stand by Israel if it were to come under attack, but acknowledged that his pursuit of diplomacy with Tehran has caused strain with the close ally.“It's been a hard period,” Obama said in an interview with Thomas Friedman, a columnist for The New York Times published Sunday night. He added that it is “personally difficult” for him to hear his administration accused of not looking out for Israel's interests.
Now in his seventh year in office, Obama cast the Iran talks as part of a broader foreign policy doctrine that sees American power as a safeguard that gives him the ability to take calculated risks.
“We are powerful enough to be able to test these propositions without putting ourselves at risk,” he said, citing his overtures to Cuba and Myanmar as other examples of his approach.
Spiegel Online
People in the West tend to have a monolithic view of Iran. But there's a lot more to the country than the mullah-led theocracy, and it often gets ignored. And national pride is alive and well.Which government cabinet is home to more ministers with doctorates from American universities than Barack Obama's administration? The correct answer is that of of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And, no, that list does not include President Hassan Rouhani. He got his doctorate at the University of Glasgow law school.
There are few countries in the world that are subjected to as much Western prejudice and misunderstanding as Iran. I have known the country since the era of the shahs and I have visited it more than a dozen times in the past four decades, including a recent visit.
BBC
President Barack Obama has moved to reassure Israel that the US remains its staunchest supporter, amid Israeli fears over last week's outline agreement on Iran's nuclear programme.He said Iran and the rest of the region should know that "if anybody messes with Israel, America will be there".
Critics have accused the president of conceding too much ground to Iran and endangering Israel's security.
But in an interview with the New York Times, Mr Obama firmly denied this.
"I would consider it a failure on my part, a fundamental failure of my presidency, if on my watch, or as a consequence of work that I had done, Israel was rendered more vulnerable," he said.
NPR
President Obama says it would be a "fundamental misjudgment" to condition a nuclear deal with Iran on the country's recognition of Israel.Obama made the comments Monday during an interview with Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep.
Steve spoke at length with Obama about a framework deal struck by Iran and world powers that would curb parts of Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the loosening of some international sanctions.
Israel has vehemently opposed such a deal and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been publicly critical of the parameters set by the agreement, saying they would "threaten the survival of Israel."
New York Times
JERUSALEM — Clearly unsatisfied with assurances from Washington, Israel on Monday listed specific requirements that it said it wanted in any final deal with Iran over that country’s nuclear program.Israel’s public diplomacy has so far focused on what many have said was an unrealistic demand for the complete dismantlement of Iran’s potentially military nuclear infrastructure. Softening that position, Yuval Steinitz, Israel’s minister of intelligence and strategic affairs, presented a list of desired modifications for the final agreement, due to be concluded by June 30, that he said would make it “more reasonable.”
Those changes, the Israeli government says, are necessary to close dangerous loopholes in the preliminary framework agreed between Iran and world powers including the United States in Lausanne, Switzerland, last week.
Los Angeles Times
A top Saudi envoy appeared to give the White House support Monday for the nuclear framework deal with Iran, apparently bringing a powerful regional ally into the fold as the White House seeks to shore up regional support.Adel Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States, said Monday that he is optimistic the deal will be concluded to place strict limits on Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and conduct other nuclear activities for at least a decade.
“We hope there will be a deal based on the principles that the U.S. government has articulated to us,” he told reporters.
Salon
Throughout his career, but especially in the time since President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection, Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed himself to be something most politicians are not: a terrible bullshitter.I don’t mean “terrible” in a normative sense, though he often deploys bullshit for ends that I find morally abhorrent. I mean “terrible” in the sense of lacking skill. Even if you adjust your measurements to reflect his profession (where bullshit is nearly omnipresent), Netanyahu’s phoniness is obvious. It’s a strange thing to say about the second-longest serving PM in Israel’s history, I grant, but it’s true nonetheless. It’s absurdly easy to tell when “Bibi” is full of it.
Let’s take the multiple appearances he made this weekend on American television, for example. During his time on both NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CNN’s “State of the Union” and ABC’s “This Week,” Netanyahu repeated the argument he made during his farcical speech before (most of) the Congress earlier this year. Evidently, the fact that the outline of an agreement negotiators unveiled last week is broadly seen as better than expected has not caused him to reevaluate his position.