Hillary Clinton, in her first congressional testimony since becoming secretary of state, commented, "We actually believe that by following the diplomatic path we are on, we gain credibility and influence with a number of nations who would have to participate in order to make the sanctions regime as tight and as crippling as we would want it to be."^[1] Clinton states outright that the Obama administration is not trying to negotiate seriously with Iran over its nuclear weapons. Instead it is an attempt to make sure that the rest of the world is onside when they break off negotiations.

1. ^ Shahir Shahidsaless, White House miscalculations linger, Asia Times Online, 28/4/2009 http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/KD28Ak02.html

The Military has been denying claims made by Iran that they can block the straits of Hormuz, a vital transit route for tankers bringing oil and gas from the Gulf for the west of the world. So long as the military downplays Iran’s ability to strike back they make the possibility of striking at Iran more likely.

Dennis Ross is a hawk on Iran and has been made special adviser on the Gulf and Southwest Asia, essentially meaning Iran. He has been making an empire at the state department to make sure that he has complete control over the issue. “Everything we've seen indicates that Ross has completely taken over the issue," says a key Iran specialist. "He's acting as if he's the guy. Wherever you go at State, they tell you, 'You've gotta go through Dennis.'"^[1] Ross has in the past argued that preventive military action might be necessary, and that this should be done alongside Israel. He believes that Diplomacy with Iran will fail, begging the question of why someone who has made up his mind on Iran should be advising a president who wants to keep his mind open. Perhaps he is simply there to be a devils advocate but empire building makes this unlikely.

1. ^ Robert Dreyfuss, Dennis Ross’ Iran Plan, The Nation, 4th April 2009, http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090427/dreyfuss?rel=hp_currently