The president was absent from the prime minister's address.
By REUTERSUS President Barack Obama(photo credit: REUTERS)
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama on Tuesday told reporters "as far as I can tell, there was nothing new" in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress panning US-led nuclear talks with Iran."The prime minister didn't offer any viable alternatives," Obama said, urging Congress to wait to evaluate a nuclear deal with Iran until an agreement is finalized. Obama said that he would only agree to a deal that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."Even officials in Netanyahu's government have acknowledged that Iran has lived up to its end of the interim deal," he said.Obama also said that it is important not to politicize the relationship between Israel and the United States.Following Netanyahu's speech, a senior US administration official said that Netanyahu failed to offer an alternative in his speech to the US Congress on the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran."Simply demanding that Iran completely capitulate is not a plan, nor would any country support us in that position. The prime minister offered no concrete action plan," the official said.
