“We will do everything we can to resolve this diplomatically, but ultimately we’ve got to have somebody on the other side of the table who’s taking this seriously—and I hope that the Iranian regime understands that. The window for solving this issue diplomatically is shrinking,” Obama told a news conference March 14.
Obama gave no deadline, nor any hint of when his patience would expire.
“I have sent a message very directly to [Iran] publicly that they need to seize this opportunity of negotiations [with the Big Six] to avert even worse consequences for Iran in the future,” Obama said.
Obama expressed irritation that the Islamic Republic tends “to delay, to stall, to do a lot of talking but not actually move the ball forward.”
Many diplomats complain that Iran has come to talks repeatedly, but never presented anything of substance. There are other complaints of non-cooperation as well.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has been pressing for years to look around the Parchin military base, south of Tehran, where satellite photos show what appears to be a high explosive test chamber of the kind used in testing triggers for a nuclear bomb.
The issue moved to the front burner earlier this year when the IAEA made a major point of pointing to suspect work at Parchin. Iran at first said the IAEA could not visit there, then backed off and said a visit could be arranged. Shortly before Now Ruz, however, Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said a visit could only be permitted if there was first an agreement on what the inspectors would be allowed to see and do. That sounded to many like another delaying tactic.
In his press conference, Obama also said, “I am determined not simply to contain [an] Iran that is in possession of a nuclear weapon. I am determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.” Obama has now repeated several times that his Administration does not accept the idea of living with a nuclear-armed Iran, a clear statement that the United States will accept war if that is what it takes to halt an Iranian military nuclear program.
Several recent polls have showed a majority of Americans now prepared to support military action against Iran to keep it from getting a nuclear weapon. A Reuters poll this month showed 56 percent of those polled taking that position.