US Senators contradict Dempsey on Iran

Influential US Senator John McCain, leading a delegation of five Senators on a trip to Jerusalem, emerged from a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to tell reporters that “There should be no daylight between America and Israel in our assessment of the [Iranian] threat. Unfortunately there clearly is some.” Taking public issue with a recent statement about Iran’s clerical regime being “fundamentally rational, McCain added that “any regime with an abiding concern for its own security, self-interest and self-preservation would not engage in such deeply provocative conduct. There is no doubt that Iran has so far been undeterred on the path of acquiring nuclear weapons.”

"Israel probably is most capable of determining what the threats are to their national security,” McCain added. "I think they are a sovereign nation and their assessment is one that if I were an Israeli citizen I would rely on more than that of another government."

Senator Lindsey Graham, a fellow Republican in McCain's delegation, said: "I think that the comments telling Israel what to do and not to do vis-a-vis Iran are very unhelpful. I just want to tell our Israeli friends my advice is never lose control of your destiny. You do what is necessary to control your own destiny and you have my full blessing."

As if to prove the point, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave another firebrand speech on state TV Wednesday, declaring that "with God's help, and without paying attention to propaganda, Iran's nuclear course should continue firmly and seriously ... Pressures, sanctions and assassinations will bear no fruit. No obstacles can stop Iran's nuclear work."

Meanwhile, a visit to Teheran by a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency ended on Tuesday in total failure after Iran flatly refused to grant it access to a military complex at Parchin, suspected of housing an underground lab for the development of atomic weapons.