http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/iran/nuke2.htm

Iranians officials generally deny that they are engaged in developing a military nuclear capability. However, in a February 1987 address to Iran's Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI), President Ali Khamenei stated: "Regarding atomic energy, we need it now... Our nation has always been threatened from outside. The least we can do to face this danger is to let our enemies know that we can defend ourselves. Therefore, every step you take here is in defense of your country and your evolution. With this in mind, you should work hard and at great speed."
Hashemi Rafsanjani, president of Iran from 1989 to 1997, gave a speech on 14 December 2001 that was widely interpreted as indicating that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons as a deterrent to Israel. Calling the establishment of Israel among the worst periods of our contemporary history, Rafsanjani stated that, "If one day, the Islamic world is also equipped with weapons like those that Israel possesses now, then the imperialists' strategy will reach a standstill because the use of even one nuclear bomb inside Israel will destroy everything. However, it will only harm the Islamic world. It is not irrational to contemplate such an eventuality. Of course, you can see that the Americans have kept their eyes peeled and they are carefully looking for even the slightest hint that technological advances are being made by an independent Islamic country. If an independent Islamic country is thinking about acquiring other kinds of weaponry, then they will do their utmost to prevent it from acquiring them. Well, that is something that almost the entire world is discussing right now."

Rafsanjani spoke at the Qods Day (Jerusalem Day) rallies, which are held on the last Friday of Ramadan, and in 2001 fell on 14 December. "You should make the world understand that Israel is the oppressor and that Israel must be destroyed," Ayatollah Ali Meshkini said during the nationally televised 8 December Friday Prayers in Qom. Khalid Mashaal, head of the Hamas political bureau, told Iranian state television on 11 December 2001 that events such as Qods Day contribute to "increasing our people's resistance and made the Palestinian people realize that the Islamic nation was right behind them and that it was supporting them." On Qods Day, millions of people marched through Tehran. They carried the usual inflammatory placards and voiced the usual "Death to..." chants. Their resolution, IRNA reported, said that US support for the "Zionist Regime" was the "key" to the suppression and massacre of the Palestinian people, and "the cancerous tumor of Israel is the top threat to the Middle East and the world of Islam."

Asked how Iran would react to an Israeli attack against the Bushehr nuclear reactor, Minister of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics Ali Shamkhani declared, "If Israel carries out such an action, it will receive a response, which no politician in Israel can even imagine." Shamkhani denied that Iran would resort to nuclear weapons, Al-Jazeera television reported on 4 February 2002, and he added, "Actions will speak."

Similarly vague threats of retaliation if attacked were made between then and at least June 2008, by various Iranian officials since then. Observers have also suggested that this could be an allusion to disruptive asymetric attacks, as in closing the Straight of Hormuz and attacking shipping, terrorist attacks, or even cyber terrorism. In September 2005, shortly after his election, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad cited the high casualties of the Iran-Iraq War as evidence of the dangers of attacking Iran. The Voice of America reported in August 2006 that an influential cleric in Iran's Assembly of Experts had suggested that Iranian ballistic missiles would target US interests in the region and Israel if it were attacked. In April 2008, however, Deputy Commander-in-Chief Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said that Iran would "wipe out" Israel if attacked. The comments in 2008 were followed by an Israeli military exercise widely viewed as a warning to Iran and a show of resolve to prevent their acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Isn't there a similar rule in Israel? Isn't it true that since the US is an ally of Israel, it is frowned upon for Israelis to disagree with US government policy? I mean, we're both special together, right?

To avoid embarassing discrepancies, perhaps Cantor could be helpful enough to distribute the Powerpoint of Israeli-approved talking points so that "US officials" would know what to say. That would probably be most helpful and much appreciated. Always glad to be of service.

who makes claims he can't back up. Like claiming Israel did not try to join NATO, which it did. Or, claiming that debkafile was a wing of the IDF, which it is not.

What an ass.

RE: "Rep. Eric Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, said...that 'we need to make sure that this president is also going to stand by Israel and not allow his administration to somehow speak contrary to what our ally thinks is in its best interest'."

SEE: Would God want Israel to attack Iran? ~ By (Rabbi) Michael Knopf, Haaretz, 3/04/12

(excerpt). . . With the American war in Iraq still fresh in our collective memory, Judaism’s standards for just wars become especially poignant. A decade ago, Bush Administration officials began calling for military action against Saddam Hussein. They contended that Hussein had secret weapons stockpiles, was producing weapons of mass destruction, and was supplying weapons to terrorists. Given Hussein’s belligerent attitude toward the West, his defiance of the international community, and his track record of brutality at home and abroad, these pieces of evidence were, at the time, offered to prove a clear and imminent threat to the U.S.
So the U.S. invaded, igniting a nearly ten-year war that reportedly resulted in more than 150,000 deaths. Only amid the rubble and corpses did we discover that most, if not all, of the arguments in favor of the war were false. We let fears, not facts, govern our decisions. Our goal was to save innocent lives; we took many, instead.
The Talmud teaches that, in 586 BCE, Judea was destroyed not because its defenses were too weak, but because the Jews were indifferent about shedding blood (Shabbat 33a). Let us pray that history does not repeat itself.

ENTIRE COMMENTARY - http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/would-god-want-israel-to-attack-iran-1.416343

Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives the President the sole power to make foreign policy. Congress must ratify any treaties, but other than that, no one else has any say about what policies the U.S. will pursue. The President can enter into so-called "Executive Agreements" with other countries without Congressional approval. A state official can speak to foreign leaders, but can't bind the U.S. to a particular policy..

"Is rio orange war always forfait internet mobile inevitable ?"
MaximB