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Netanyahu struggles to set the terms in Iranian dispute

04 October 2013 19:35 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that Iran's new president was a "wolf in sheep's clothing", but he himself looked increasingly like a lone wolf as his allies seek to bring Tehran into the fold, APA reports quoting Reuters.

After years of worrying about Iran's disputed nuclear ambitions, Netanyahu took to the stage at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday and made his most explicit threat yet to attack the Islamic republic unless it ends its atomic program.

However, his warning carried less weight than in previous years, with only a dwindling band of diplomats and experts convinced that Israel might unleash its warplanes, especially at a time of warming ties between Iran and the rest of the world.

One Western diplomat involved in Iranian nuclear diplomacy described Netanyahu as "out of step" with the mood of detente and a former senior U.S. official cautioned that Israel would be unlikely to secure all its demands in any negotiations.

An additional concern for Netanyahu, who relishes his time in the international spotlight, was that world attention was focused elsewhere, notably on the U.S. government shutdown.

This was particularly noticeable when Netanyahu met U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday as part of his mission to undermine an Iranian diplomatic drive to build warmer relations with the United States and other Western powers and to prevent any swift easing of economic sanctions on Tehran.

Although the U.S. president took pains to agree with his guest, his more pressing concern - as reflected by the sole question taken from reporters covering the White House meeting - was the political paralysis gripping Washington.

"Israel needs to be taken seriously and Netanyahu did his best," said Ehud Yaari, an Israel-based fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "But his message might have become diluted and in terms of getting it heard, I am not sure he succeeded. The timing was not his choice."

While Netanyahu still enjoys broad support at home for his unyielding approach, aides said he worried that Western powers, impressed by more clement rhetoric from new Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, will "fumble the ball" and let Iran reach a point where it could rapidly put together a nuclear weapon.