July 7/09. Talking to CNN from Moscow Tuesday, July 7, US President Barack Obama "absolutely" denied a Washington green light for Israel to strike Iran's nuclear facilities, adding: "We can't dictate to other countries what their security interests are" - but it is also true that it is US policy to try and resolve the issue "through diplomatic channels."

This statement directly contradicted the words of US vice president Joseph Biden, who two days earlier told ABC television that the US would not stand in the way of Israeli military action against the Iranian nuclear program. While Biden's remarks are sometimes off-the-cuff and subject to "further clarification," this time a genuine difference opinion appears to have developed between President Obama and his VP on the Iranian nuclear question.

DEBKAfile's military sources stress that Israeli PMr Binyamin Netanyahu has never specifically applied to President Obama on this question and so the inconsistencies in US public positions appear to reflect internal divergences within the administration on the handling of the Iranian nuclear program.

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