Obama says diplomacy will yield a more lasting solution to Iran issue

TEHRAN,March 16(MNA)– U.S. President Barack Obama has said that diplomacy will yield a more lasting solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program that will serve the interests of Iran, the United States, and Israel. “We think that it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don’t want to cut it too close. So when I am consulting with Bibi (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu)… my message to him will be the same as before: If we can resolve it diplomatically, that’s a more lasting solution,” Obama said in an interview with Israel’s Channel 2 at the White House, which was broadcast on Thursday, ahead of his first visit to Israel as president on Wednesday, the Times of Israel reported. “But if not I continue to keep all options on the table,” AP quoted the U.S. president as saying. “What I have also said is that there is a window, not an infinite period of time, but a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically,” he added. In addition, according to Haaretz, Obama said, “It is in all of our interests - Israel, the United States, the world and Iran’s - if we can resolve this diplomatically.” When asked why he believed sanctions against Iran would succeed where they had failed with North Korea, Obama said that “Iran sees itself as a broader world player than North Korea ever did,” the Jerusalem Post reported. He added that Iran had a lot to gain from complying with the West and could be a major world player were it to act to remove sanctions against it.