Obama, Netanyahu show unity on preventing a nuclear-armed Iran

President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu sought to work out differences on Iran’s nuclear program, in an effort to dilute the bitterness between both leaders as Obama enters the last stretch of the U.S Presidential elections.

On Friday, Obama and Netanyahu spoke on the phone over the issue of tackling Tehran as a joint shot. Obama who faced much criticism by Republicans and the media for missing out the opportunity of holding one to one talks with any of the world leaders present in the UN annual event, Obama attempted to change the Israeli President’s perception of being ‘too hard on an ally and less than tough on Iran’, that was portrayed by rival, Mitt Romney, during his visit to Israel.

Netanyahu, so far, had been pressurizing Washington to draw a ‘red line’ for Tehran, which Obama had refused to do. However, as both leaders tried to find a middle ground to the problem, Netanyahu during his conversation, suggested, that an attack on Iran could be postponed until the U.S Presidential elections are over.

"The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," the White House said in a summary of their 20-minute phone conversation.

The White House said that while the President did not said out right that he will give Tehran an ultimatum, as Netanyahu has demanded time and again, “the temperature is lower than it had been” before the talks.

"I had a very good conversation with President Obama," Netanyahu told Israel television. "Our teams are talking."

The pressure on the President was dramatically mounting up since the beginning of this month, especially when Netanyahu insisted that United States did not have a ‘moral right’ to stop Israel from attacking Tehran, since Washington is not taking any action on its own. That, along with the rumors that Obama has no intentions of meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister during his visit to New York, worsened the situation even more.

Obama aids were irritated by the fact that Netanyahu was putting pressure on the President in the midst of the election season, when he has already so many issues to tackle with. Also, Romney tried to use the matter, to turn the Jewish-American voters against the President.

However, as talks continue, Israel’s desire to defuse the issue until elections, might allow Obama to get an even greater edge over his Republican challenger, who has suffered a series of political fall outs this month.