It’s worth mentioning that Barry’s call to Rohani only went through as the latter was being driven from New York to the airport for his return to Iran. IRNA (blocked in the US) reported: “The two presidents talked over the phone as President Rohani was in a car and heading towards the New York International Airport.” This was so that Rohani could not possibly request a face-to-face meeting before departing, which Barry’s handlers felt would be a step too far – RB
Israel was informed of Obama-Rohani call in advance, briefed after
Barak Ravid, Haaretz, Sep 28 2013
NEW YORK – White House National Security Advisor Susan Rice informed her Israeli counterpart Yaakov Amidror Friday of the planned telephone conversation Obama was to hold with Iranian Pres Rohani and then informed him of its contents after it had taken place. A senior Israeli official said that Amidror traveled to Washington Friday morning, in order to lay the groundwork for Netanyahu’s White House meeting with Obama Monday. Amidror met with Rice and other US officials, and discussed the US-Iranian negotiations. During these talks, Amidror was also briefed on the meeting Jackass Kerry held with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif in New York on Thursday. On Friday evening, Amidror was informed of the possibility that Rohani would speak with Obama by phone, and was informed that the call had taken place before Obama reported on it to the public at a White House press conference. A senior US official said:
We were able to notify the Israeli government of the call. I don’t want to get into the exact specific channel. We’ve already been having discussions with Israel anyway, given Netanyahu’s upcoming visit. So we’ve had steady with communications and were able to update them on this development. We will continue to update Israel and our other allies in the Persian Gulf and the European Union regarding pur contacts with Iran. The Israeli government has every right to be skeptical of the Iranian government, given the statements that have come out of Iran the past, extraordinarily inflammatory statements about Israel and threats towards Israel’s existence. We believe that a diplomatic solution that would prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons would serve Israeli security interests as well. We’ve made clear that words need to be followed by actions, so when we consider things like potential sanctions relief, we’re going to need to see a meaningful agreement and meaningful actions by the Iranian government before the pressure that’s in place can be relieved.
Niqnaq 