McCain: Obama Backtracking On Vow To Meet With Iran "Without Preconditions"

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) decried his rival's changed stance on diplomatic engagement with Iran on Wednesday, saying Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) had again shown no concern for the issue of nuclear threats by backtracking on his pledge to meet with the Islamic nation's leaders "without preconditions."

"Today, in Israel, Barack Obama once again demonstrated that his words really don't matter," the McCain campaign said in an email to supporters.

The campaign also held a conference call that had Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI) saying leaders of Iran, North Korea and other rogue nations would expect a visit from Obama when the Democrat assumes the presidency next year.

"That would be an untenable position for the President of the United States to be put in... [Obama] has set himself up for a performance measurement that he cannot meet," Hoekstra added, according to CBS.

"It's one more example, as with the surge in Iraq, of Sen. Obama not understanding the consequences of his policy choices," McCain senior advisor Kori Schake also said.

During a July 2007 debate in South Carolina, Obama had said he would meet with leaders of hostile nations such as Iran, North Korea and Syria "without preconditions" because "the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them - which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration - is ridiculous."

When asked Wednesday during a press conference in Israel if his position about Iran remains the same, Obama said, "What I said in response was that I would, at my time and choosing, be willing to meet with any leader if I thought it would promote the national security interests of the United States... that continues to be my position, that if I think that I can get a deal that is going to advance our cause, then I would consider that opportunity. But what I also said was that there is a difference between meeting without preconditions and meeting without preparation."

"I will take no options off the table in dealing with Iranian threat. What remains of non-proliferation would disintegrate. Many of these countries have ties to terrorists. That is our single most important threat," the Illinois senator also said, according to the Guardian.

Obama's tougher talk on Iran follows meetings with Middle East officials including Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Shimon Peres. The freshman senator is on a 10-day tour of the Middle East and Europe to change perceptions that he is "naive" in foreign policy and national security.