The second example I would cite is the Iranian nuclear issue, where Russia and China, both of whom have very complicated policy agendas toward Iran, are collaborating to frustrate the current U.S. strategy for dealing with the Iran nuclear issue.
As the sixth major powers consider the issue of Iran's nuclear program, the Russians have backed away from any talk of sanctions.
On the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, Lord Rosser said "sanctions are now beginning to put considerable pressure on the Iranian regime" and urged against any pre-emptive military action.
And with the prospect of diplomatic "progress" with Iran on Iraq in the air, the US certainly doesn't want to rock the boat by pursuing the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The issue of Iran's nuclear program continues to dominate relations between the U.S. and Israel and was a primary topic of discussion when President Barack Obama met with Mr. Netanyahu in Israel last month, said U.S. and Israeli officials.
Netanyahu had hoped that his conditional support for Palestinian statehood, and his current willingness to bar Jews from building homes in Judea and Samaria would neutralize US pressure on Israel and facilitate his efforts to convince Obama to recognize and deal rationally with the issue of Iran's nuclear weapons program.
But Israel needs the US to deal with Iran's nuclear programme - and that is an issue which Mr Netanyahu himself has said is more important than any other facing Israel.
"The developments in the Arab world and the crisis in the West's relations with Iran over the nuclear program has resulted in Afghanistan being relegated into a secondary issue for the U.S. and the West, " read one editorial in 8-Subh, the country's largest private newspaper, last month.
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Mr. Kerry echoed Mr. Obama's willingness to hold direct talks with Iran on the nuclear issue.
After 18 months, we were told Obama finally realized that contrary to what he had thought, Palestinian statehood is not the most urgent issue in the Middle East, Iran's nuclear weapons program is.
For Mr Netanyahu though, who's campaigned under the slogan "A strong prime minister, a strong Israel", security is the most importance issue, with the perceived threat from Iran's nuclear programme at its heart.
Bush decided to work through the UN Security Council on the issue. despite Russia's open assistance to Iran's nuclear and missile programs and China's growing addiction to Iranian natural gas, it was already apparent that the US was not serious about preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
There are reports that Iran is the main backer of the Iraqi Shiite militias and there is the nuclear issue, which makes Iran a main foreign policy concern for the U.S. in the region.
With respect to Iran, we have consistently framed that issue around Iran's profound failure to meet its international obligations with respect to its nuclear program.
So Israel's best practice regarding Egypt is to buy time on the Palestinian issue while successfully preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
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First, for three years, from 2003 until 2005, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency ignored mountains of evidence that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and refused to refer the issue to the Security Council.
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