Obama warns against premature Iran strike

US President Barack Obama warned on Friday against a premature attack on Iran, while Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu insisted his country had the right to self-defence and needed room to manoeuvre.
But in an apparent nod to Netanyahu ahead of key White House talks on Monday, Obama said if sanctions failed to curb Tehran's atomic ambitions, US military action against Iranian nuclear facilities should not be ruled out.
"I think that the Israeli government recognizes that, as president of the United States, I don't bluff," Obama told the Atlantic Monthly magazine in remarks published Friday.
"I also don't, as a matter of sound policy, go around advertising exactly what our intentions are. But I think both the Iranian and the Israeli governments recognize that when the United States says it is unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say."
Obama warned, however, that a premature military strike could inadvertently help the Iranian regime.
"At a time when there is not a lot of sympathy for Iran and its only real ally (Syria) is on the ropes, do we want a distraction in which suddenly Iran can portray itself as a victim?" Obama said.
of Israel's role, "it would still be a profound national-security interest of the United States to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," the president argued.
US strategy included isolating Tehran politically, sanctions and diplomacy, Obama said.
On his way to Washington, Netanyahu arrived Friday in Canada against a backdrop of fears that Israel could unilaterally strike suspected Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking alongside Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during a visit to parliament in Ottawa, Netanyahu had tough words but was careful not to appear to be pressuring his US ally.
"I have not set red lines and we are not seeking to set red lines to the United States," he said in Hebrew.
Netanyahu says all options remain on the table concerning action on Iran, whose President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly questioned Israel's right to exist.