President Obama said Monday there is time to prevent Iran from securing a nuclear weapon through diplomacy and not a military strike at the outset of a high-stakes meeting at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For the second day in a row, Obama said there’s “still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution” to the Iranian nuclear threat and that the United States, together with other countries, would continue to “tighten pressure” and put forth the “most crippling sanctions” to date.
But Obama, who in a Sunday address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee emphasized that he “had Israel’s back,” said that if the Iranian regime didn’t move in the right direction, he would consider other options.
“As I indicated yesterday in my speech, when I say all options are on the table I mean it,” Obama said.
Obama and Netanyahu highlighted U.S.-Israeli unity during a brief appearance before the media, but differences remain between the two countries over just how big the window is for a diplomatic resolution.
On Monday, Netanyahu, sitting beside Obama in the Oval Office, said Israel “must reserve the right” to act unilaterally.