WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - President Barack Obama, in the days leading up to a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, said he hopes to reassure the Israeli leader that he is taking the threat of Iran developing a nuclear weapon seriously.
Obama, speaking to a reporter from The Atlantic magazine, said he also hopes to forestall any possible unilateral Israeli military action against Iran, though he also said that he wants both Iran and Israel to know the possibility of American military action is real.
'I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff,' he reportedly said. 'I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are.'
He added, 'But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say.'
Although the White House has not published an official transcript of the 45 minute interview Obama had with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, neither has it contested any of the quotes in his article, posted Friday.
Obama reiterated comments he has made before saying 'all options are on the table,' but in what may be his strongest language in public so far, explicitly added that a 'military component' was being considered as a final option.
He also, however, reportedly made clear that his preferred course of action is to use sanctions and international pressure to persuade the Iranian regime to change its course.
'Without in any way being under an illusion about Iranian intentions, without in any way being naive about the nature of that regime, they are self-interested,' Obama told Goldberg. 'It is possible for them to make a strategic calculation that, at minimum, pushes much further to the right whatever potential breakout capacity they may have, and that may turn out to to be the best decision for Israel's security.'
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