Benjamin Netanyahu says US does not have 'moral right' over Iran But it was also the aggrieved response of a man who believed himself slighted. Just 24 hours earlier, Mr Netanyahu announced that talks were under way between Israel and the US to set Iran a "red line" over its nuclear programme - fulfilling a demand that he had been making for weeks. Instead, he found himself immediately contradicted by Washington. Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, insisted that no deadlines would be set. Other officials went further, saying that red lines would "not be useful." Mr Netanyahu's fiery language will alarm those who believe that Israel is intent on taking unilateral military action against Iran - although others will see his threats as hollow. Observers have struggled to distinguish bluff and bluster from sincerity in Mr Netanyahu's public pronouncements on Iran. He has engaged in periodic bouts of bellicose rhetoric towards Tehran, the most recent of which prompted speculation that he as considering ordering military action before Americans go to the polls in November. Others, however, have seen the prime minister's belligerence as more calculating, designed to ensure that the international community takes Israel's fears of a nuclear "Holocaust" seriously. A growing number of analysts in Israel believe that Mr Netanyahu and his equally hawkish defence minister, Ehud Barak, have had to shelve any immediate plans to attack Iran's nuclear facilities because of the strength of US and domestic opposition.