White House: Israel’s Stance on Iran Would Lead to War

Demands Would Alienate Other Nations

The White House has issued another statement criticizing Israel’s stance on diplomacy with Iran, insisting their “all-or-nothing” proposal, demanding Iran unilaterally give up the sum total of its civilian nuclear program and not accepting anything less, was a recipe for war.

Terming Israel’s position a demand for “total capitulation” from Iran, White House officials said they believed if the world took that position Iran really would try to make a nuclear weapon, and that would lead to a war.

Israeli officials don’t seem to be disputing that aspect of their demand, and indeed the fact that the demands would be rejected and could then be used as a pretext for war appear to be their primary appeal for hawks in the Netanyahu government.

The White House comments warned that the position risked alienating other P5+1 members, as well as other nations who up until now have been abiding by the sanctions, but which might jump ship if the demands of Iran get less and less reasonable. Though they offered no specifics, there have been reports of some nations growing weary of the endless sanctions position, and the US warning might reflect that.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.