Biden vows Washington will prevent nuclear Iran

US push for tighter sanctions scaring off Tehran’s gas partners

By ICEJ News

09 Mar 2010

Vowing to stop the Iranian nuclear threat in its tracks, US Vice President Joe Biden expressed America's "absolute, total, unvarnished commitment to Israel's security" at a press conference in Jerusalem following a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

Biden insisted the Obama administration was "determined to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, and we are working with many countries around the world to convince Iran to meet its international obligations to cease and desist.” He added, “There is no space between the US and Israel when it comes to Israel's security."

Netanyahu thanked the US for its support on a wide range of issues, from preserving Israel's qualitative military edge to support on blocking the Goldstone report, while also calling for tougher sanctions against Iran.

Biden’s visit comes amid heightened concern among US and Israeli officials that Iran is trying to start a conflict between Israel on one side and Syria and Hizbullah on the other in an effort to deflect attention away from international efforts to impose stiffer sanctions on Iran over its renegade nuclear program.

Israel’s deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon told a conference of foreign military officers and government officials in Herzliya on Monday that there was probably only four to eight weeks left to try and reach a diplomatic solution with Iran before sanctions are the only option left. “The only way to stop Iran is through a unified diplomatic position,” Ayalon said. “Iran is a big and vulnerable country, that will use psychological warfare and [the tactic of] divide and conquer. Calling their bluff is the only way.”

In a sign that US pressure for tighter sanctions is already having an impact, two large European energy firms, Trafigura and Vitol, have announced that they’re getting out of the business of supplying Iran with refined gasoline even before new sanctions hit, joining British Petroleum, Glencore and Reliance Industries. "The companies don't feel it is worth it to carry on fuel trading with anymore," said energy analyst Samuel Ciszuk. "Political pressure from the United States and its European allies are starting to make an impact and deter fuel trading with Iran."

Finally, reports out of Washington indicate the Obama administration is unhappy with efforts in Congress to pass a more stringent set of unilateral sanctions on Iran than the White House wants. The State Department is negotiating with key Senators for an exemption for any countries they determine to be "cooperating" with the US on the sanctions regime.
Several congressional aides said last week that their bosses were getting impatient with the ever-slipping deadline for UN action and that a large exemption that includes Russia and China would not fly on Capitol Hill. The administration had pledged to wrap up at the UN Security Council in February during the French rotating presidency, then that slipped to March, and now lawmakers are being told April.

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