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Obama’s Visit to Israel Is All About Iran

US President Barack Obama will have a broad regional agenda when he visits Israel, including the peace process, but the trip is really all about Iran, writes Alon Pinkas.

U.S. President Barack Obama talks to the audience before he signs the Violence Against Women Act while at the Department of Interior in Washington, March 7, 2013.          REUTERS/Larry Downing  (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EPDP
US President Barack Obama talks to the audience before he signs the Violence Against Women Act while at the Department of Interior in Washington, March 7, 2013. — REUTERS/Larry Downing

At its core, President Barack Obama's visit to the Middle East is about Iran.

Other issues will be discussed, other topics will occupy some headlines, but it is almost springtime in Iran. Dealing with Tehran's intransigence and efforts to weaponize its nuclear program is the one compelling US foreign policy priority in the region. Everything else is minor by comparison and certainly does not warrant a presidential incursion. 

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