The Cutting Edge

Hillary Clinton

Contrary to recent media reports, the U.S. will not be setting out any "red lines" on the Iranian nuclear program. It had been previously reported that the Obama administration was planning to announce a series of conditions under which America would take or support military action against Iran, mainly to assuage Israeli concerns that they would have to go it alone against the Islamic republic. On Sunday, however, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that, while America is watching Iran "very carefully," the administration is "not setting deadlines" for Iran.

"We’re convinced," she said: "that we have more time to focus on these sanctions, to do everything we can to bring Iran to a good-faith negotiation. It’s a very challenging effort to get them to move in a way that complies with their international obligations. But we believe that is still by far the best approach to take at this time."

Despite this, Clinton did acknowledge Israeli concerns, noting that the country feels it is "right in the bull’s-eye, so to speak." It feels that it would be an existential threat if Iran were a nuclear-weaponized state, and no nation can abdicate their self-defense if they feel that they’re facing such a threat. This final statement could be interpreted as an endorsement or at least an understanding of possible military action by Israel. Nonetheless, Clinton's statement represents a serious setback for the Netanyahu government, which was hoping to use the threat of an Israeli strike to push the international community toward more serious action against the Iran threat.

It appears, however, that the Obama administration has concluded that Israeli action is unlikely, and can afford to continue diplomatic efforts for the moment.