Obama to Israel: Stop Killing Iranian Nuclear Scientists

CBS News reports that the Obama administration has asked Israel to stop killing Iranian nuclear scientists. It was widely suspected that Israel had been behind a series of assassinations of key figures in the Iranian nuclear program, but never quite confirmed–until CBS’ Dan Raviv cited sources close to Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Israel and the US have both used a variety of unconventional methods to attack Iran’s nuclear program.

On the one hand, it is tempting to give the Obama administration a bit of credit here for not leaking the story first. On the other, this is exactly the kind of thing that raises doubts as to whether the U.S. is real serious about stopping Iran. There is an argument to be made that the chance for a diplomatic victory is so real that the U.S. cannot afford anything to interfere. The counter-argument: Iran certainly isn’t pulling any punches, is it?