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| By Israel Insider staff August 10, 2008 |
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The yellow light from Washington is blinking again. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the United States is not giving orders to Jerusalem regarding a possible strike against Iranian nuclear installations. Slamming Iran's answer to the latest incentives package and warning that the US may seek more sanctions, Rice says hope lies in 'reasonable' Iranians.
Rice said Thursday that the US would not "say yes or no" to an Israeli military strike on Iran. In an interview with Yahoo News and the Politico blog, she said that Iran's answer to the incentives package offered by world powers "is not a really serious answer". She warned that more economic sanctions were the next likely step if the Islamist, terror-supporting Iranian government continued to refuse to freeze its nuclear program.
An Official in Tehran said that the letter handed to world powers in response to their demands for answers was not an adequate answer to the generous package that was offered to Iran. The letter does not even mention the possibility of freezing nuclear work.
"Iran has a way out if they ever wish, but we will seriously pursue sanctions if they don't," she said. "You have to hope that there are reasonable people in Iran who see this as not the way to run a country."
"We don't say yes or no to Israeli military operations," she said. "Israel is its own sovereign. We are in close contact with Israel and we talk about the diplomatic track we're on.... They've said diplomacy can work here, and I know they're doing their part to talk with all countries with which they have diplomatic relations to explain why it is important to have a tough edge to our diplomacy," Rice said.
Comment in our spanking new forum. Condi would like that. |
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