“Now those facts are there for all to see,’’ Obama said. “We would not be bringing forward a case unless we knew exactly how to support all the allegations that are contained in the indictment.’’
The president said the administration had reached out to its allies and the international community to make its case. “We’ve laid the facts before them,’’ Obama said at a news conference conducted with the visiting South Korean president, Lee Myung Bak. “And we believe that after people have analyzed them, there will not be a dispute that this is in fact what happened.’’
Obama’s comments came as Iran escalated its rebuttal of the US charges, saying the claims were so ludicrous that even politicians and press in the United States were expressing skepticism about such a scheme.
Iran’s state-run media was dominated yesterday by rejections of the US charges. Press TV, an English-language news website controlled by the Iranian government, quoted the foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, calling the charges part of a new propaganda campaign. The official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ali Ahani, the deputy foreign minister, as saying that “the absurd and conspiratorial scenario was made so immaturely that even political circles and media of the US and its allies were suspicious about it.’’
Appearing next to the South Korean president, who was in Washington for a state visit, Obama promised to “apply the toughest sanctions and continue to mobilize the international community to make sure that Iran is further and further isolated and pays a price for this kind of behavior.’’
Obama said that all options are on the table - a diplomatic signal that he would not rule out military strikes - but administration officials privately say it is highly unlikely that the United States would respond militarily.
