Obama Assures Netanyahu: All Options on Table over Iran

Local Editor

US President Barack Obama told "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu US "won't take any options off the table, including military action" to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons.

Obama met with Netanyahu at the White House Oval Office on Monday morning, just three days after his historic phone conference with new Iranian President Hassan Rowhani. The call between the US and Iranian Presidents was the first high-level contact between Washington and Tehran in three decades.

On Monday, seeking to ease the Zionist entity's concerns about Washington's engagement with Tehran, Obama said that Iran must prove its words with actions.
"Given the statements and actions from the Iranian regime in the past - the threats against "Israel", the acts against "Israel" - it is absolutely clear that words are not sufficient, that we have to have actions that give the international community confidence that in fact they are meeting their international obligations fully and that they are not in a position to have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu echoed Obama's sentiments, saying that "Iran's conciliatory words have to be matched by real actions: transparent, verifiable and meaningful actions."
According to Obama, because of "extraordinary sanctions" put in place against Tehran over the past several years, the Iranians are now prepared to negotiate.
He underlined that both the US and "Israel" agree that "it is imperative" that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. Washington will be in consultation with the Zionist entity and other allies in the region during the negotiation process, and hopes that the issue can be resolved through diplomatic means.

However, Obama stated that "we take no options off the table, including military options."
According to Netanyahu, "Iran is committed to "Israel's" destruction." "Israel" says the "ultimate test of a future agreement with Iran" is that Tehran fully dismantles its military nuclear program.

Moreover, the "Israeli" PM praised Washington's efforts in trying to settle the thorny issue, and urged the US not to lift economic sanctions against Iran.
In Netanyahu's view, it was thanks to "the combination of a credible military threat" and the pressure of sanctions that brought Iran to the negotiating table. Those pressures must be kept in place and "should not be lessened until there is verifiable success," he told journalists after his meeting with Obama.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team