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Does Iran Believe the U.S. Is Serious about

(Atlantic) Jeffrey Goldberg - Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, says his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem late last month did, in fact, devolve into a sharp confrontation with the American ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro. Rogers explained: "Here's the problem....I support the sanctions. But if you're going to have a hammer you have to have an anvil. You have to have at least a credible threat of a military option. So it's having an effect, yes, it's having an effect on the Iranian economy. It is not impacting their race on enrichment and other things, and that's very, very clear." He went on, "I think the Israeli position is, 'Hey, listen, you've got to tell us - I mean, if you want us to wait' - and that's what this Administration's been saying, you've gotta wait, you've gotta wait, you've gotta wait - got that - 'but then you've gotta tell us when is the red line so we can make our own decisions about should we or shouldn't we stop this particular program." "Right now the Israelis don't believe that the Administration is serious when they say that all options are on the table, and more importantly, neither do the Iranians. That's why the program is progressing."
2012-09-07 00:00:00
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