Obama: There is still time for diplomacy to work on Iran

WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Barack Obama declared Tuesday that diplomacy can still resolve the crisis over Iran’s possible pursuit of nuclear weapons, and he accused his Republican critics of “beating the drums of war.”

“Those folks don’t have a lot of responsibilities,” Obama said. “They are not commander in chief.”

Tension with Iran, and Obama’s preference for restraint, dominated his first full news conference of the year, held on the same day that Republican Super Tuesday voting was drawing attention as well.

Obama said his critics are forgetting the “cost of war” in their rush to punish Iran and defend Israel, which sees a nuclear Iran as a mortal threat in its Mideast neighborhood.

Rhetoric on the right is “more about politics than about trying to solve a difficult problem,” Obama said.

He said he is focused on “crippling sanctions” already imposed on Iran and on international pressure to keep that nation from developing a nuclear weapon.

Obama said his private meetings with Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu this week carried the same message as his public pronouncements. And he implied that Israeli pressure for urgent action was not supported by the facts, saying that a decision was not necessary within the next weeks or months.

He added that Iranians need to show how serious they are about resolving the crisis. He said there are steps the Iranians can take “that are verifiable” and will allow it to be “in compliance with international norms and mandates.”

Obama also addressed the fact that he has not visited Israel since becoming president, saying he was “unable” to make the trip.