Obama to tell U.N.: Nuclear Iran poses existential threat to Israel
Published September 25, 2012
WASHINGTON (JTA) — President Obama will tell the United Nations that “containment” of a nuclear Iran is not an option and it would pose an existential threat to Israel.
“Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained,” Obama’s speech as prepared for delivery to the General Assembly on Tuesday morning states, according to a White House release. “It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear arms race in the region and the unraveling of the non-proliferation treaty. That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
Obama has explicitly rejected containment of a nuclear Iran for months, but attaching its prospect to an existential threat to Israel is the starkest warning he has made and reflects increased anxiety in Israel about suspicions that Iran is accelerating a nuclear weapons program.
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