Obama's olive branch to Iran turned into sanctions hammer=2
Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:37 GMT
or the missile depot. Things exploding in Iran do not have anything to do with the United States," a U.S. official said.
Iran reacted to those events and the stepped-up economic sanctions as if under siege. It threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping lane.
"They feel themselves under threat internally. They talk about the soft overthrow and the covert war that is being waged," said John Limbert, a professor of Middle East studies at the U.S. Naval Academy.
U.S. officials downplayed the possibility that Iran would follow through on its threats.
Iran has threatened to close the Strait before, usually when its leaders feel international pressure, another U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.
"It's doubtful Iranian leaders want an all-out war, but they'll continue to agitate and push the envelope in ways they believe advance their national interests," the official added.
WAITING FOR IRAN
Obama is still open to an Iranian overture for serious negotiations on its nuclear program, officials say. Indeed, that is the ultimate goal of the pressure strategy, they say.
"We have a number of ways to communicate our views to the Iranian government, and we have used those mechanisms regularly on a range of issues over the years," White House National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said.
"But any message that we have delivered to the Iranian government would be the same as what we've said publicly," Vietor said.
For now, Obama is focused on new sanctions that target Iran's central bank and oil sales.
"We are already seeing ... a really substantial impact on the Iranian economy, the Iranian currency," Rhodes said. "The next step for us is making sure that as we do that there is continued space for the Iranian government to take a different path, rather than simply seeing our pressure as an end of itself."
But with Iran announcing it has begun enrichment at the protected underground site near Qom, and Israel not ruling out a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear sites, time may be short.
U.S. intelligence agencies say there is no evidence that Iran has decided to move forward with building a nuclear weapon. But experts point out it is taking steps to lay the groundwork so it can move quickly if that decision is made.
If Iran decided to move forward, it would be about a year away from having a crude nuclear explosive device, David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said. "They still don't know quite how to move forward without getting caught," he said. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Warren Strobel; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
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