Clinton Warns of U.S. Use of ‘All Elements of Power’ against Iran

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday said Washington would use "all elements of its power" to prevent Iran going nuclear and was working in "close consultation" with Israel over how to do so.

Speaking to reporters at the end of a whirlwind 24-hour visit to Jerusalem, Clinton said that Iran not yet decided to curb its nuclear ambitions, and warned that Washington would stop at nothing to prevent it from getting a nuclear bomb.

"We will use all elements of American power to prevent Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon," she said in remarks which carried an implied threat of military action -- a course of action never ruled out by Washington.

Thanks to U.S. efforts to rally the international community to tackle the Iranian nuclear threat, Tehran was "under greater pressure than ever before," Clinton said, indicating that the Obama administration was "pressing forward in close consultation with Israel."

"I think it is fair to say we are on the same page at this moment, trying to figure our way forward to have the maximum impact on affecting the decisions that Iran makes," Clinton said.

Clinton arrived in Israel late on Sunday at the tail end of a nine-nation tour, holding talks with top officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Although Israel has warned a nuclear Iran would pose an existential threat to the Jewish state and has refused to rule out a military strike on its nuclear facilities, Peres expressed confidence in Washington's tough stance on Tehran.

"I think the coalition we have built, and the measures you have taken are beginning to have their impact... they are the right start," he told Clinton.

"We appreciate very much your position. We trust its depth and dedication and determination and we feel partners of this coalition."

Comments 14
Thumb phoenician 17 July 2012, 08:55

Annihilate the satanic state alongside hizb and syria,the sooner the better.

Default-user-icon johndoe (Guest) 17 July 2012, 09:16

Folks, the events that are taking place in the Middle East today are a lot more complex than some people want to believe. Lets take a look about what is happening. The West, i.e, the US and its western European allies, along with many influential countries in the Middle East, believe Iran has not been transparent about its nuclear program. They believe Iran is building a nuclear bomb. In fact, some believe they will have one a lot sooner than previously thought. So, the U.S. is slowly but surely tightening sanctions against Iran to get them back to the negotiating table. And, of course, the Iranians don’t like it. This is of course old news.
Weather these sanctions will work to convince Iran to allow full disclosure of its nuclear program is dubious at best. You see, Iran is motivated by Mahdism, a messianic belief that the 12th Imam of Shiism, the Mahdi, will one day reappear to establish universal Islam. The trigger is the DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL!
See part 2

Default-user-icon Johndoe (Guest) 17 July 2012, 09:17

Part 2
On many occasions, President Ahmadinjad has said that Israel should/would be wiped off the map. He could not be more clear than that. Although some experts speculate that Iran already has a nuclear bomb, others say Israel and/or the US/Nato would have taken military action if indeed it was the case. Needless to say, Iran will never be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Will the increasingly tougher sanctions put by the U.S. against Iran eventually push it to the brink? The latest round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program have stalled. Renewed diplomatic talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany have failed to produced results. Will Iran try to close the strait of Hormuz, as it has been threatening, and risk provoking a direct military conflict with the US? The US is taking the threats very seriously.
See part 3

Default-user-icon johndoe (Guest) 17 July 2012, 09:19

The Obama administration has already sent two aircraft carrier groups to the region, a squadron of F-22 fighters and is keeping two army brigades in Kuwait. In addition, the Pentagon recently added four minesweeping ships, bringing the total to eight, and a bunch of MH-53 minesweeping helicopters. The United States is simply not going to allow Iran or anybody else for that matter, to disrupt the flow of the world’s 5th oil traded worldwide. Doing so will be treated as an act of war. Can the Iranians close the strait, and more importantly, will they do it? The answer to the first question is: yes they can. Their ability to do so has increased in recent years because they built mini-submarines that are difficult to track and that can be used to place underwater mines. They can also drop mines from ships or from bases on-shore, using currents to position them near the strait. Will they do it? It all depends if they have or not learned from history.
See part 4

Default-user-icon Johndoe (Guest) 17 July 2012, 09:21

Part 4
In 1988 during the Iran Iraq war, Iran mined the shipping routes and again threatened to close the strait. The guided missile frigate Samuel Roberts was severely damaged by an Iranian mine. The Reagan Administration retaliated by ordering the destruction of of two Iranian oil platforms, a number of Iranian missile boats and an Iranian frigate. If Iran tries or decides to close the strait today, it would face a devastating response. It will only be able to do it once. It would take the US 7 to 10 days to reopoen the strait but Iran’s military capability as an offensive force would cease to exists, and along with it its nuclear program. Having said all that, lets explore how all this is going to affect our beloved Lebanon. We have several issues we need to deal with. On one hand we have the Iran/Syria/Hizbullah axis and on the other we have Israel. See part 5

Default-user-icon Johndoe (Guest) 17 July 2012, 09:24

Part 5
In an article published on this Website on July 3rd, Ahmad Gibril said : “ I recently met with Nasrallah, president Ahmadinejad and President Assad…Iran and Hizbullah told him they will join the battle to defend Syria in the event of a foreign attack ..” two weeks later, neither Nasrallah nor Iran have yet to deny the story. Silence means ageement, what else could it be? This a a disaster waiting to happen for Lebanon. What if the western alliance decides enough is enough and imposes a no fly zone over Syria? This is a scary scenario indeed. The Russians have increased their presence in the Meditterean, and are keeping a symbolic base in Tartous. The Turks are itching for a fight with Assad. Israel is waiting for Hizbullah to show any sign of aggresion. And Assad is crazy enough to use his chemical arsenal in an act of desperation.
War is a terrible price to pay. Will religious fanaticism/expansionism triumph over reason? Let’s wait and see.

Default-user-icon Neal (Guest) 17 July 2012, 15:38

Johndoe i like your analysis . Lebanon will pay a heavy price during all of this just because hezbollah is an Iranian tool . but the reason might have a bloody nose at first but it will triunmgh at the end . god help all

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 16:45

Its a losing game. If Iran wants to go nuclear and is willing to live under the economic sanctions that are in place, and that can be put into place, then Iran will go nuclear. Clinton should not jeopardize her credibility saying otherwise.
The US is not going to resort to military means and Israel will not resort to military means with the US not on board. So this is talk, idle talk.
What they should be talking about is to direct the Iranian nuclear development toward single use peaceful purposes within the context of the NPT. Iran is a signatory to the treaty and is subject to its provisions and terms as it develops a nuclear capacity. This is the rule of law and it should be observed by all parties with necessary protections.
To do otherwise, to deny a treaty member rights under the treaty would be discriminatory and possibly racist against a Middle Eastern country.

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 16:59

@johndoe, an interesting analysis. There has been a build up of force in the Persian Gulf by the US. But I do not see Iran testing that force. It is a pretty good deterrent that will stop Iran from engaging in any offensive type action.
But with sanctions in place, Iran on the defensive, I do not see Iran in an offensive mode, but it is hunkered down and in a defensive mode.
In truth, Iran is not led by irrational religious fanatics. No less than the Chairman of the USJCS has so said in congressional testimony. They are rational in Tehran and pursue Iranian national interests in a rational predictable manner See, http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Military/2012/0220/US-military-officials-urge-caution-on-attacking-Iran

See, Part 2

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 17:04

Part 2
Trita Parsi is a pretty good expert on Iran these days. He's written two books on the subject of Iranian strategic interests and has the opinion that Iran seeks a nuclear development program for the following reasons:
1. Security - Iran is an ethnic (Persian) and religious (Shia) minority regionally speaking, it has no friends that it can truly trust and so it seeks a nuclear capacity as a means to safeguard its revolution.
2. Economic - The easy to drill oil in Iran is swiftly reaching its end, though Iran has a great deal of oil reserves, it would take expert hydrologists to get it out and Iran has none. Others would have to come in and do the work, most of which are American, so its a problem. Iran can extend the life of its petroleum reserves by moving electrical power generation from oil to nuclear reactors.

See, Part 3

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 17:07

Since Nixon, US policy has been against a nation bordering the Persian Gulf becoming nuclear. It has been a red line. When the Shah wanted to go nuclear, the Shah was turned out of power.
Obama recently changed the US position on the Iranian project. Obama went against the Netanyahu position of no nuclear development at all, to nuclear development within the context and confines of the NPT with IAEA inspections and a special protocol for Iran. This was made at the Baghdad P5+1 talks.
But something changed between those talks and the Moscow session. What changed was the US Presidential Elections; Netanyahu's injection of himself into the US elections and the threat to unleash all that can be unleashed to turn Obama out of office if he did not walk back to the Israeli position, which Obama did and the Iranians knew it. So now we are back to war talk with Iran, when a breakthrough was so close only months ago.

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 17:12

It is against US interests to take the Netanyahu position. By so doing, we in the US have created an opening for Russia to step in and for Iran to ally with Russia. That alliance has manifested itself with Russia doing Iran's bidding with regard to attempts to save the Assad Regime from casting vetos in the UNSC to delivering conventional weapon systems to the Assad Regime.
To remain in a confrontational mode, Iran needs to keep Assad as an instrument to maintain its trip wire force, Hezbollah and its rockets on its Lebanese weapon's platform aimed at Israel. Iran needs to keep the retaliatory strike on Tel Aviv in the strategic calculations of the Israeli Defense ministry.
If Obama, on the other hand, followed US interests, Iran would have no need for Russian assistence, no need for Hezbollah and therefore no need for Assad.

See, Part 5

Thumb beiruti 17 July 2012, 17:16

Part 5
But Netanyahu is setting up this scenario because he is afraid that if the US works a nuclear arrangement with Iran, then Israel would become strategically irrelevant to the US in the region. The US would have good relations with KSA as well as with Iran, Russia would be frozen out of the region, so why would the US need a military strategic relationship with Israel??
So, we have the Netanyhu gambit which draws Russia in on Iran's side and assures that the US will need Israel on its side to make for a regional strategic stand off against the Russians and the Iranians.
Bad for the US, but good for Netanyahu. But this is where we are with the Israeli tail wagging the US dog.

Default-user-icon John from Koura (Guest) 18 July 2012, 01:19

What may or may not happen today will not change the future. By 2018, the Chinese Yuan will replace the US dollar for Oil exports. By 2020, China will have the largest economy in the world. The US can not politically stop its spending on social security and medicare, and it can not significantly increase taxes. The US will face the same problems countries in Europe are facing today. Its economy will be stagnant for years and its years as an empire are numbered because its military, political, and economic strength will suffer. Israel can not exist without US military, economic, and political support, and its years as an ethnic cleansing Apartheid state will also be numbered.