Top U.S. defense officials are urging Israeli counterparts to show restraint with Iran, as part of an effort to lower the temperature in the ongoing crisis over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions. On Friday, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is expected to begin talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with Iran expected to top the agenda.
Israeli officials said Thursday that they expect Dempsey will ask Israel to restrain from possible military action against Iran, according to the Associated Press.
Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told reporters Wednesday that the United States has “always expressed a willingness” for diplomatic solutions regarding Iran but noted that the administration hasn’t taken any options off the table. That came after Iranian news agencies reported that President Obama had sent a letter proposing direct talks with Iranian leadership.
Critics said the administration’s overtures to Tehran are politically motivated, and risk emboldening Iran to continue on a path to arming itself with nuclear weapons.
“The administration’s response to the continuing confrontation with Iran has a bit of Keystone Kop quality to it,” said James Carafano, senior defense analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a think tank. The administration’s principle motive appears to be to avoid a conflict ahead of November’s elections, Carafano said.
As the administration urges restraint, Iran appeared willing to tweak the U.S. Iranian toy makers this week released a toy that mocked the CIA’s RQ-170 Sentinel drone, which Iranians claim to have brought down while it was conducting spy missions along their border. The toy, which is available in bright colors, has an engraved stand with the words of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution: “We will trample America under our feet.”
Iranian officials offered to send one to President Obama.
“Between an Iranian toy company wanting to send a plastic drone to the White House, to counterclaims over whether Obama passed notes to Tehran over lunch period, and conflicting declarations from U.S. officials, it would be comical, if the issue were not so deadly serious,” Carafano said.
As the administration has urged restraint, Israel has become more bellicose in demands that Iran abandon its nuclear program. The conflicting approaches threaten to drive a wedge between the allies on the issue of Iran, experts said.
However, disagreements between Israel and the U.S. have remained mostly behind closed doors, before this week.
On Thursday, the U.S. and Israel issued a joint statement saying the military meetings on Friday will focus on “cooperation between the two militaries, as well as mutual security challenges.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner’s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
