U.S., Iran Resume Talks Hours After Netanyahu Speech
The U.S. and Iran have resumed talks Wednesday over Iran's nuclear program shortly after Israel's Prime Minister encouraged Congress and the Obama administration not to trust Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iran's Mohammad Javad Zarif for a third day on Wednesday to discuss the plan for their nuclear program. The U.S. is hoping to have a preliminary plan put in place by the end of the month and a more comprehensive agreement settled by June.
The plan would include Iran halting its nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions on Iran's oil-rich economy.
In an explosive speech made at a joint meeting Congress this week, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the United States' effort to restrain Iran's nuclear program, saying doing so "doesn't block Iran's path to the bomb; it paves Iran's path to the bomb."
Netanyahu also warned of Iran's "tentacles of terror," saying the Middle Eastern country's ability to create a nuclear program arsenal would put his country and allies at risk of attack.
The meeting between Kerry and Zarif took place only hours after Netanyahu's speech, and President Barack Obama almost immediately shot down the prime minister's claims, saying that Netanyahu suggested no "viable alternatives" to the current plan.
"It's important to realize the depth of the US-Israeli relationship under my administration: billions of dollars have gone to support Israel, including the Iron Dome. The military and intelligence cooperation is unprecedented, that's not our estimation that's from the Netanyahu government," the president said.
