United States President Barack Obama is giving Iran till the end of this year to sort out the dispute over its nuclear programme. Mr Obama broke the news after talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. The US president is also demanding that Israel starts talking seriously with the Palestinians on a peace accord.

President Obama says he is planning to play an active role in the Middle East peace process, unlike his immediate predecessor, George W Bush, and more in the line of former US president Bill Clinton. Mr Netanyahu and US supporters of Israel are eager to know whether Washington under Mr Obama will continue the tradition of more or less unconditional support for the Jewish state.
 
Possibly awakening some anxiety amongst Israel’s supporters, Mr Obama spoke more candidly than previous US presidents in front of the cameras about what he expects from the Israeli government: negotiations and gestures of good will designed to lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state. These should include putting a stop to Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied territories. Sitting next to Mr Netanyahu in the White House, Mr Obama said:

“I am confident that he is going to seize this moment and the United States is going to do anything that we can do to be constructive, effective partners in this process...”

After the meeting, Mr Netanyahu stressed Mr Obama was a friend of Israel. However, he declined to endorse the US president’s vision of a peace process which will end with an independent Palestinian state as Israel’s neighbour. He would not commit himself beyond the assurance that he was planning an immediate resumption of talks with the Palestinians:

“I share with you very much the desire to move the peace process forward, and I want to start peace negotiations with the Palestinians immediately.  I would like to broaden the circle of peace to include others in the Arab world...”
 
Mr Netanyahu’s position is a step back from the undertakings of previous Israeli governments. Diplomats see the US stance towards Iran as a means of forcing Israel to show more flexibility towards the Palestinians. Israel sees Iran’s nuclear programme as a direct and serious threat. On Monday evening, Mr Obama reiterated that he would not tolerate Iran gaining nuclear weapons. He said he did not want to hand Iran a deadline, but there was a timeframe within which its dispute with the international community should be sorted out:

“The important thing is to make sure that there is a clear timetable, at which point we say ' these talks don't seem to be making any serious progress’...”

And Mr Obama indicated when that time would come:

“By the end of the year, I think we should have some sense of whether or not these discussions are starting to yield significant benefits...”

A tougher US stance towards Iran or, in any case, tougher rhetoric from the US president in that direction, may advance the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Talks between Mr Obama and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Washington later this month may make the equation clearer.