White House: No Alternative to Iran Negotiations

Insists Netanyahu Is Not Presenting an Alternative Strategy

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just days away from making a speech to Congress in which he will urge them to sabotage the US negotiations with Iran, White House officials are hitting out against his planned talks, saying he’s not presenting any feasible alternative.

The alternative to not having a deal is losing inspections,” noted one administration official. They maintain even an “imperfect” deal with Iran could greatly limit their civilian nuclear program.

Netanyahu has been condemning the talks, and the idea of any deal at all as a threat to Israel, and has promised to do everything in his power to prevent a deal from being reached.

The why behind this is fairly straightforward, as Netanyahu has for years been haranguing the US to threaten military action against Iran more often. The deal effectively kills the chances of a war with Iran, and even if war isn’t assured in the absence of a deal, threats and acrimony are, and that’s where Netanyahu feels most comfortable.

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.