McCain sees tension between US, Israel over Iran

Speaking to reporters a few hours after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, McCain said there is “daylight” and “tension” between Jerusalem and Washington over the Iranian issue.

“There should be no daylight between America and Israel in our assessment of the [Iranian] threat. Unfortunately, there clearly is some,” he added.

His remarks came just two days after General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a February 19 CNN interview that it would not be prudent for Israel to attack Iran at this point as Tehran is a “rational” actor in the international arena and is not after producing nuclear weapon.

McCain criticized Dempsey’s appraisal of Iran, claiming that by pursuing nuclear weapons despite mounting international isolation, growing sanctions and the “very real threat of conflict, it is hard to see this as rational behavior.”

The United States, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program, using this pretext to impose sanctions against Iran and threaten the country with military attack.

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted towards nuclear weapons production.