US pushing for peace in the Middle East with an eye on Iran
Jerusalem (AsiaNews) – The United States is trying again to jumpstart the peace process with an eye on developments in Iran. But conditions for peace appear to be disappearing one by one; only the military option against Iran seems to be still on the table.
US Envoy George Mitchell on the week-end travelled to Syria and Egypt. He is also expected in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the Arab emirates.
US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates is also in Israel before flying to Jordan.
Two other US envoys are going in the region as well. National Security Adviser James Jones and Gulf States envoy Dennis Ross are expected in Israel shortly.
In Israel US Defence Secretary Robert Gates met his Israeli counterpart Ehud Barak this morning. At the end of their press conference both men struck a conciliatory tone reaffirming their countries’ “strong commitment” to close ties.
The discussions focused on Iran. Mr Gates said the US offer to Iran was "not open-ended", but added that President Obama was hoping for a response, "perhaps by the time of the UN General Assembly" in September.
Mr Barak cautioned that "no option" had been removed in its handling of Iran—suggesting that military force remained a possibility.
Until a few months ago Washington and Jerusalem were far apart over the military option against Tehran. But military sources in Israel told AsiaNews several times that Israel expects to convince the US to back an attack against Iran.
In fact Israel has not been shy about attacking Iranian nuclear sites. In the last few months it has conducted a number of military exercises widely seen as possible preparations.
Conversely, almost from the start of his mandate US President Barack Obama has tried to get Iran involved in a dialogue. But US patience seems to be wearing thin as Washington seems to be unable to hold back Israel much longer. For the Israelis the Iranian situation has to take priority over any peace dialogue in the Middle East.
Not much else seems to be moving in the region. Stalemate seems to be the operative word.
For months the United States has been telling Israel to stop its settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem, but Israeli authorities have just turned a deaf year.
Israeli army figures indicate that the population of Jewish settlements is up by 2.3 per cent.
Palestinian authorities have said that they would not go back to the peace table until Israel puts a freeze on its settlement activities, which are making a Palestinian state less and less likely.
Mitchell, who was in Damascus yesterday, said talks with Syrian President Bashir al-Assad were “candid and positive”.
Under the mediation of Turkey, talks between Israel and Syria were interrupted by Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip in December.
The stumbling block between Jerusalem and Damascus is no longer the Golan Heights, but Israel’s nuclear programme.
For Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem nuclear weapons must be banned from the whole Middle East. “This is how we can address the Iranian public opinion that there would be no double standard in approaching the nuclear programme,” he said.
Little movement has been seen among Palestinians. In Cairo Mitchell and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak agreed that reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas was necessary but the two organisations are much divided about how to establish a national unity government and organise security in upcoming elections.
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