Kerry Seeks to Reassure Israel on Iran

ROME — Secretary of State John Kerry, facing new frictions with America’s most important Middle East allies over its policies in the region, sought to assure Israel on Wednesday that the United States would insist on strict constraints on Iran’s nuclear program in its newly reinvigorated negotiations with Tehran.

Mr. Kerry’s public statements before his meeting with Mr. Netanyahu were focused largely on reassuring the Israelis. “No deal is better than a bad deal,” Mr. Kerry said, a phrase that American officials have frequently used in recent weeks to try to reassure lawmakers in the United States as well as Israel and Persian Gulf states that the White House will not make risky concessions. But Mr. Netanyahu listed a range of steps that Israel says Iran needs to take to demonstrate that it is not developing nuclear weapons, steps that appeared to go well beyond a compromise that the United States and other world powers are prepared to explore with Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian use only. The United States and other world powers are scheduled to resume talks with Iran in Geneva on Nov. 7. Mr. Netanyahu, in a joint appearance with Mr. Kerry, said Iran must get rid of all of its fissile material and should not be allowed to have any centrifuges to enrich uranium. Iran should also close its underground nuclear facilities and abandon its construction of a heavy-water plant that would produce plutonium, Mr. Netanyahu added. Having staked out broad demands on the Iranian nuclear program, Mr. Netanyahu argued that the international sanctions against Iran should not be eased in return for a “partial deal.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/world/middleeast/kerry-reassures-israel-on-iran-but-divisions-remain.html?_r=0