Obama Again Warns ‘Patience Limited’ on Iran

President tempers hope after talks with caution, demands

Echoing the skeptical tone of State Department officials following today’s high profile talks with Iran, President Barack Obama cautioned that his patience with the Iranian government was “not unlimited” and that they had to take concrete steps, and soon, to prove the peaceful nature of their nuclear program.

The comments came in spite of what European diplomats characterized as a very productive day of talks, and despite President Obama himself publicly endorsing Iran’s third-party enrichment proposal.

President Obama also took the step of “demanding” that the Iranian government give the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) “complete access” to their Qom facility, which he claimed to have uncovered.

Yet for those paying attention over the past week, Iran actually disclosed the facility to the IAEA before Obama’s “revelation.” Moreover, despite these repeated “demands” Iran has already promised the IAEA access to the facility and the two are simply hammering out the details of when the IAEA team will arrive.

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.