Today in Washington (April 2, 2009)

US says Iran-US encounter was brief handshake - US says Iran-US encounter was brief handshake

The US State Department on Wednesday moved to defuse the controversy surrounding reports of a US-Iranian meeting on the sidelines of a conference on Afghanistan in The Hague.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters at that conference that Richard Holbrooke, US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, met briefly with Irans Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhundzadeh.

However, both Akhundzadeh and Irans Foreign Ministry denied that any meeting had taken place.

Asked about the denial, State Department spokesperson, Gordon Duguid, said yesterday that the exchange was a brief handshake.

He said: To describe it as substantive or even, you know, lengthy would be inaccurate; that is true. It was an engagement for Mr. Holbrooke. So no, it was not a meeting. We agree with that.


Gates says he does not expect Israeli strike on Iran this year

In an interview published on Thursday, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that he does not expect Israel to launch a strike against Iran in 2009 to prevent that country from developing nuclear weapons.

Speaking with the London-based Financial Times newspaper, Gates said: I guess I would say I would be surprised if they [Israel] did act this year.

Asked if Iran would cross the nuclear threshold this year, he said: I dont know, I would guess probably not. I think we have more time than that.

On Wednesday, General David Petraeus, the top US commander in the Middle East, told US lawmakers that Israel may take preemptive military action against Iran, which Israel considers its greatest threat.

In a statement submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee, he said: The Israeli government may ultimately see itself so threatened by the prospect of an Iranian nuclear weapon that it would take preemptive military action to derail or deny it.

- The US State Department on Wednesday moved to defuse the controversy surrounding ...

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• iran
• news
• washington
• tv
• washingtontv
• footage
• video