JAN. 1 – Sobering headlines about Iran, this New Year’s Day.
The Jerusalem Post’s Hilary Leila Kreiger and Haviv Rettig Gur, in their dispatch from Washington, report the US has “toughened its rhetoric” and is “looking increasingly to sanctions rather than diplomacy,” now that its deadline to Iran has passed. The article includes an interview with Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, who calls for “crippling sanctions.”
But this article, echoing other Israeli reports, notes a more “calibrated approach” emerging from the Obama administration, possibly taking the form of a new push for a U.N. Security Council resolution. The article suggests the U.S. does not wish to undermine the popular uprising against the Iranian government. Nor does it want to disrupt Iran’s energy markets.
The Washington Post, in an article by Howard Schneider, also addresses the issue of the Obama administration “falling short” of “crippling sanctions.” It reports that Israel will nonetheless support “narrower” U.S. sanctions as a “next step.”
Today’s required reading: In the Times (UK), “The world must neutralise Tehran’s toxic threat,” by Liam Fox, UK Shadow Defence Secretary; and a stinging indictment of Europe in the Wall Street Journal (Europe): “Europe’s trade with Iran’s butchers,” by Goli Ameri, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs.
