Romney Speaks With Netanyahu

September 28, 2012, 5:15 pm

By ASHLEY PARKER

ABOARD MITT ROMNEY'S CAMPAIGN PLANE - Moments after finishing a phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, Mitt Romney told reporters on his private campaign plane Friday that he did not believe military action against Iran would be necessary, but added that he would not “take that option off the table.”

“I do not believe that in the final analysis we will have to use military action,” Mr. Romney said. “I certainly hope we don't have to. I can't take that option off the table - it must be something which is known by the Iranians as a possible tool to be employed to prevent them from becoming nuclear. But I certainly hope that we can prevent any military action from having to be taken.”

Mr. Romney and President Obama both spoke to Mr. Netanyahu by telephone Friday, a day after the Israeli prime minister publicly addressed the United Nations General Assembly to set a “clear red line” in preventing Iran from developing nuclear capabilities. As for his own red line, Mr. Romney said he and Mr. Netanyahu did not get into “the kind of detail that would define precisely where that red line would be.”

Though Mr. Romney said he was not comfortable sharing the details of his phone call with Mr. Netanyahu, he said they discussed a nuclear Iran - “the greatest national security threat that we face,” he said.

“We spoke about his assessment of where the red line ought to be drawn and my own views with regards to Iran,” Mr. Romney said. “But we also spoke about other developments in his neighborhood: Syria, Egypt and other neighbors.”

Mr. Romney has long criticized Mr. Obama's handling of Iran, saying that the president should have long ago called for crippling sanctions. But now that the current administration has installed sanctions similar to those for which Mr. Romney had advocated, Mr. Romney said the president “has moved over time.”

“Part is to see action as opposed to just words,” Mr. Romney said, referring to the president's position on Iran. “His words more recently are more consistent with the words I've been speaking for some time, and we'll see what actions he pursues.”

Mr. Romney added that he would also indict the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, under the Geneva Conventions for inciting genocide, as well as implement “extensive covert activity.” (Mr. Romney added that he did not know what type of covert operations the president is pursuing, and so he could not describe any differences between them on that front.)

“I would also look to take action against their diplomats and treat them like the pari ah I think they are, the same way we treated South African diplomats under apartheid,” he said. “And of course I would be exploring military options in the event they were necessary, and again, what options the president has considered is something only he could describe.”

Referring to a crude drawing of a bomb with a lighted fuse that Mr. Netanyahu held up during his United Nations presentation, Mr. Romney joked, “I suggested that his graphic was not up to the normal Boston Consulting Group standards,” before quickly clarifying, “No, I didn't actually do that, but I was thinking of it.”