Israel's Envoy Courts Democrats on Iran

(Al-Monitor) Julian Pecquet - Israel's U.S. envoy, Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met with black and Jewish House members last week to press the case for demanding that Iran be prohibited from enriching uranium. "On the issue of Iran, we share a goal of preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, and we have no doubt that the president is committed to that goal," Dermer said. "Israel's goal is slightly broader than that: We want to prevent them not only from having a weapon but also to prevent them from having the capability." Dermer stated his "hope" that in Israel's discussions with Obama administration officials, "we can convince them to not put forward a proposal that would leave them [Iran] with enrichment capability." "That's not something Israel could support because to leave Iran with enrichment capability is to leave them as a threshold nuclear power." Dermer also reminded the lawmakers that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier this year laid a wreath at the grave of assassinated Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh, whom Dermer called a "mass murderer of Americans" for his role in the 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut.


2014-03-21 00:00:00

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