Press TV has conducted an interview with Stephen Lendman, an author and radio host from Chicago, about another move in a string of allegations made by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Iran is 6 weeks away from building a nuclear bomb.

The following is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: We have Benyamin Netanyahu literally claiming that Iran is just six weeks away from building a nuclear weapon. Why is there no one especially in the West saying that Israel already has the bomb?

Lendman: Indeed so. I remember Ronald Reagan very, very well. When he heard somebody say something that he disapproved of, he would make a comment like, I quote “There he goes again”. Well, Bibi indeed crying wolf. There he goes again, it is absolute rubbish.
Netanyahu is a serial liar. He’s like Obama. Literally everything that comes out of his mouth has no credibility. He makes a statement at this conference to the effect that, everyone knows Iran is developing a nuclear bomb. Well, in fact everybody in Israel in the know knows that Iran has no nuclear weapons program.
What I rely on, among other things, is the annual US combined intelligence report - 16 US intelligence Agencies. And in recent years that I’ve been following it the report says basically the same thing every year.

There is no evidence to show that Iran has a nuclear weapons development program and we have a line saying, “we don’t know that Iran does not have one, we simply can’t find any evidence to say that it does”. Well, that’s good enough for me.

Iran has no nuclear weapons program, but I would add everybody knows that Israel is the only nuclear power in the region and it also has a very powerful chemical and biological weapons arsenal.

Press TV: Let’s talk about the significance of the timing of these accusations. How do you relate these accusations to the recent nuclear talks?

Lendman: Well, of course we have the interim agreement that just began several days ago and it runs until around the middle of 2014.

So Israel has gone out to sabotage the agreement, to vilify Iran; to make bogus accusations; to get the help of AIPAC in America to push the US Congress to get more sanctions imposed; to do everything possible to subvert the agreement that’s in place now to prevent the possibility of a permanent agreement. I think that’s what’s going on.
What Israel really wants is to eliminate a rival and it would love to have America join Israel in a war on Iran. That’s what Israel wants.
Press TV: How much can Israel throw a wrench in the works of these nuclear talks?

Lendman: With the power of AIPAC you can accomplish a great deal, but there is an awful lot of pressure in America against this.

There has been so much hostility for so many years against Iran. Obama is very concerned about his plunging approval rating. It bounces up a little and bounces down a little. Tonight in his State of the Union address - I’ll be writing about it tomorrow -but he’s very concerned.

Americans are fed up with wars. They want [to get] out of Afghanistan. The percentage of Americans wanting US forces out of Afghanistan exceeds 80 percent; it exceeds the highest number of anti-Vietnam war activism in America. It’s astonishing; you just don’t see it on the streets.

So, the last thing Obama wants to do right now is to start another war. He’s certainly not averse to making trouble, but he doesn’t want another war. He doesn’t want Americans to think, with the anti-war feeling in America that he’s going against that with all of the other things that he’s up against.

He’s set up so many crosses to bear. People are very, very upset about him and he’s very concerned – very justifiably. He’ll try and make up for it in the State of the Union address, but as I always like to say and tell people, “Ignore what these people say. Watch only what they do”.

Look at the policies. I’m not encouraged by the policies, but I don’t see an imminent war breaking out. That is a new one and the one I’m most concerned about is what’s going on in Syria.

Press TV: Politics aside and the Israeli lobbies aside, generally how much is America interested in doing business with Iran?

Lendman: Well, I wish I had a good answer to that. It certainly hasn’t been sincere in the last 34 years. Obama was insincere in his first five years in office so I’d ask the same question, has he really turned a new leaf or is he simply talking again and not intending to follow up with any serious responsible policy.

I will be watching him very carefully. I will be ignoring the things that he says. I’ll be watching the things that he does and I’ll be writing about it. And if I see policies that literally turn a leaf compared to what has gone on for five years I will certainly say so.

I have not seen it so far, but I have an open mind and I’ll be watching for it and indeed if I come on Press TV and see anything positive I certainly will say so.

By Press TV

 

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