Key Obama Aide Urges Israel Not to Attack Iran

Deputy NSA: Give Deal a Chance

In an interview with Israel’s Channel 10 today, top Obama aide and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes urged the Israeli government not to attack Iran, saying they should give the diplomatic accord with Iran a “chance to succeed.”

Rhodes went on to caution that not only was a military attack “no guarantee” of destroying Iran’s entire civilian nuclear program, but might even encourage them to seek nuclear weapons just to prevent future Israeli attacks.

Rhodes’ comments resemble those of Israeli analysts over the weekend, who noted that the deal already got more of a change to Iran’s program than an outright attack was liable to accomplish anyhow.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also suggested an Israeli attack was unlikely at this point, noting that “no one would understand” their rationale for starting a war just days after intense negotiations got Iran to make major concessions on IAEA access to their program.

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.