Rep. Peter King calls for U.S. ambassador Susan Rice to resign for what he says was misleading comments about the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya.
Key nations of the "Friends of Syria" group met in New York Friday to strategize, once again, on how to give more help to the Syrian opposition. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced another $15 million in aid, for a total of almost $45 million, for what she called the "unarmed opposition."
By Elise Labott
With growing impatience over what he sees as foot-dragging by the Obama administration to explain the so-called "red line" that Iran cannot cross if it wants to avoid war, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his case to the world for where to draw the line.
The prime minister thanked President Obama for his speech before the United Nations two days earlier in which he warned he would do what it takes to prevent Iran from going nuclear. The attempt to show solidarity with the U.S. leader belied a fundamental argument, becoming ever more public, over when military action would be required to take out the nuclear program.
Diagrams in hand during his speech to the U.N. General Assembly, Netanyahu drew an actual red line through the level at which Iran's ability to build nuclear weapons would be irreversible. By next spring or summer, he said, Iran will have enriched enough uranium to build a nuclear weapon and a "clear red line" must be drawn to make clear to Iran it must halt its uranium enrichment before then.
By Michael Martinez
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exhorted the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday to draw "a clear red line" to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
In a theatrical gesture, Netanyahu held up a cartoon-like drawing of a spherical bomb and drew a red line below the fuse, "before Iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment to make a bomb," he said.
"It's not a question of whether Iran will get the bomb. The question is at what stage can we stop Iran from getting the bomb," said Netanyahu, who also accused Iran of aggression.
"I ask, given this record of Iranian aggression without nuclear weapons, just imagine Iranian aggression with nuclear weapons," the Israeli prime minister said. "Who among you would feel safe in the Middle East? Who would be safe in Europe? Who would be safe in America? Who would be safe anywhere?"
By David Ariosto
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his nation was committed to peace and accused world powers of double standards in pursuing an arms race, as he took to the stage Wednesday at the United Nations General Assembly.
His address on day two of the general debate was widely expected to prove contentious, given the Iranian leader's history of controversial statements, but he made no mention of Israel.
At times, his remarks seemed almost conciliatory.
Speaking from the assembly's iconic green marble podium, Ahmadinejad told delegates that Iran has a "global vision and welcomes any effort intended to provide and promote peace, stability and tranquility" in the world.
However, an "arms race and intimidation by nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction by the hegemonic powers have become prevalent," he said, and Iran finds itself under threat from world powers seeking to impose their views.
"Continued threat by the uncivilized Zionists to resort to military action against our great nation is a clear example of this bitter reality," he said. "A state of mistrust has cast its shadow on the international relations, while there is no trusted or just authority to help resolve world conflicts."
It was the Iranian president's eighth and final address to the assembly, with his final term in office coming to an end next year.
As Ahmadinejad spoke, the place set aside for the U.S. delegation was empty. The Canadian delegation also did not attend the speech, and Israel's representatives were absent in observance of Yom Kippur.
By Joe Vaccarello
World leaders flock to the United Nations this week for the 67th annual session of the General Assembly.
The general debate is expected to draw participation from 116 heads of state and government leaders. Foreign ministers and other government representatives will fill out the rest of the attendance roster of the 193-member world body.
While the focus is usually on the leaders' speeches in the General Assembly hall, there will be a lot of activity happening inside and outside the U.N. complex with high-level meetings and bi-lateral country to country talks.
Here's a guide to what to look for:
By Elise Labott
Israeli officials were telling CNN's Security Clearance just a month ago that the United States and Israel were cooperating closely on intelligence sharing over Iran.
The latest U.S. assessment gave the two countries their closest understanding yet of the scope and pace of the development of the Iranian effort, the Israelis said.
But the close cooperation belies a heated policy debate – one becoming more public – about when military action would be required to take out the nuclear program.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is displaying growing impatience with what he says is a lack of clarity by the Obama administration on so-called "red lines" that Iran cannot cross if it wants to avoid war.
FULL POST
By Jill Dougherty, CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Bashar al-Assad is "increasingly disconnected from reality," according to a senior Obama administration official in dismissing assertions by the Syrian president that the situation in his violence-torn country is improving.
The White House added that Assad's comments only showed "how delusional" the embattled leader has become.
"Only if 'better' means more Syrian people - innocent Syrian people – are dying at the hands of his soldiers; only 'better' if it means that his thugs are moving through the streets of various cities and rounding people up," presidential spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.
The Obama administration sentiment came as Human Rights Watch reported that Syrian forces had bombed and fired artillery at 10 bakeries in Aleppo province, killing and wounding dozens of civilians.
By Tim Lister
The satellite image shows large pink tarpaulins pulled across two buildings. Close by, it appears that topsoil has been moved and a security fence taken down. The image, taken earlier this week and provided to CNN by DigitalGlobe, is of an Iranian military facility at Parchin, one widely suspected by Western diplomats as a secret part of the country’s nuclear program.
It’s one of several developments on Iran’s nuclear program that worry experts - others being: the failure of another round of talks between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iranian officials; reports that Iran has increased the number of centrifuges enriching uranium; and a drumbeat of warnings from Israel that diplomacy and sanctions aren’t working.
By Elise Labott
U.S. officials said they weren't surprised Thursday when Kofi Annan stepped down as U.N. envoy to Syria.
Really?
It's a pity that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spent months of diplomatic effort, traveling from capital to capital pushing the "Annan plan" as a viable political transition strategy, all the while the administration knew it had little chance of succeeding.
So with Annan's resignation and three failed attempts at a Security Council resolution on Syria, is diplomacy dead?
At the State Department, the answer is "no."
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