Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeNEWSIRAN NEWS‘Time Is Not Unlimited،’ Obama Warns Iran at U.N.

‘Time Is Not Unlimited،’ Obama Warns Iran at U.N.

The New York Times, United Nations, 25 Sep 2012 — President Obama told world leaders that time for diplomacy to curb the looming Iranian nuclear crisis is running out، in a speech he delivered on Tuesday to the United Nations General Assembly.
While the president said that he still wants to resolve the issue through diplomacy، and believes that there is “still time and space to do so،” Mr. Obama also warned that “time is not unlimited.”
“Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained ،” Mr. Obama said during his address، the last of his current term. “
It would threaten the elimination of Israel، the security of gulf nations، and the stability of the global economy. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
The speech did not veer from the red lines on Iran that Mr. Obama expressed earlier this year — when he told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee convention that containment was not an option. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has been pressuring the White House to move the red line to preventing Iran from even acquiring nuclear capability، a request that the White House، so far، has rejected.
Mr. Obama also addressed the recent anti-American protests in the Arab world، casting them as assault on not just the United States، but on what he characterized as the ideals on which the United Nations was founded.
“If we are serious about those ideals، we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis،” Mr. Obama said. “Because we face a choice between the forces that would drive us apart، and the hopes we hold in common.”
His speech also included a dismissal of any justification for the attacks on American Embassies around the world. Recent assaults were prompted by an American-made video that ridiculed the Prophet Mohammad.
“There are no words that excuse the killing of innocents،” Mr. Obama said. “There is no video that justifies an attack on an embassy. There is no slander that provides an excuse for people to burn a restaurant in Lebanon، or destroy a school in Tunis، or cause death and destruction in Pakistan.”
After his speech to the General Assembly، Mr. Obama will deliver remarks at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative، also in New York، before flying back to Washington to pick up the campaign trail again. His Republican challenger، Mitt Romney، is also expected to speak at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting.
The General Assembly speech gave Mr. Obama the edge of appearing on the world stage، with all the trappings of global leaders surrounding him، at a crucial time in the presidential re-election campaign.

RELATED ARTICLES

Selected

Latest News and Articles

Most Viewed

[custom-twitter-feeds]