Iran's PressTV plays up the threat of Israel

Last week, PressTV.com visitors saw a line up of headlines discussing Israel's supposedly eminent attack on Iran. One headline even stated that Israeli warlord vows face-off with Iran: meaning Israeli PM candidate, Benjamin Netanyahu who stated that "[Iran] will not be armed with a nuclear weapon… It includes everything that is necessary to make this statement come true." PressTV states that Netanyahu "is currently facing war crime charges in Gaza," citing Israel's use of white phosphorous and also Netanyahu's promise to spread Israeli settlements. The story is sure to mention Iran's party line that it is not trying to obtain nuke's:

"Israel, the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weaponry while the UN nuclear watchdog, in its Sept. 15 report on Iran, declared that it could not find any 'components of a nuclear weapon' or 'related nuclear physics studies' in the country. Western powers accuse Iran, a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of attempting to develop nuclear weaponry. Iran, however, says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes and that it has the right to the technology already in the hands of many other nations including Israel - which is not a signatory NPT and yet houses the Middle East's sole nuclear arsenal."

Another related article that week quotes Aaron David Miller, the US State Department's top analyst in the 1980s, in saying that "Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to convince President Barack Obama that a military attack is the only solution to the Iranian nuclear issue."

"The Israelis will be pushing [Washington] to ensure that Iran never gets to that point and failing that, they will consider a military strike. It need not be conclusive or threatening, but it will be very serious and ... scare the daylights out of the president that unless the international community mobilizes to address the situation, the Israelis will," says Miller.

And yet another article entitled New Obama challenge: Rise of Israeli hawks threatens that a Netanyahu victory could hinder Obama's Middle East plans;

"Analysts fear that a possible power shift in the Israeli government in favor of hawks would foil US plans for the Middle East peace."

All these articles attempt to persuade American readers that a Netanyahu victory would be detrimental to Obama's mid-east peace plan. In fact, PressTV posted an article on Saturday that a Gallup poll released on Friday shows that 56% of Americans are of the opinion that the United States should engage in direct diplomacy with Iran. It seems that PressTV is trying to play to the opinions of this 56% and persude them that Israel is not acting in their best interest. A definite agenda can be seen in the headlines of the week.