Factbox: Key quotes as Obama, Republicans spar over Iran

(Reuters) - Below are quotes about Iran from President Barack Obama at a news conference and from Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference on Tuesday.

MITT ROMNEY, SPEAKING VIA VIDEO LINK TO AIPAC CONFERENCE

"I will bring the current policy of procrastination toward Iran to an end. I will not delay in imposing further crippling sanctions, and I will not hesitate to fully implement the ones we currently have. I will make sure Iran knows of the very real peril that awaits if it becomes nuclear ... As president, I will be ready to engage in diplomacy. But I will be just as ready to engage our military might. Israel will know that America stands at its side, in all conditions and in all consequence."

RICK SANTORUM SPEAKING AT AIPAC CONFERENCE

"If Iran doesn't get rid of (its) nuclear facilities, we will tear them down ourselves."

"This is not bellicosity and warmongering, this is preventing the most radical regime in the world from having a weapon that could fundamentally change the security posture ... for all freedom-loving people in the world."

"A nuclear Iran with a nuclear shield to project terror around the world is a nightmare for all freedom-loving people in the world."

"Under a Santorum administration, we would find no gap between Israel and the United States because our interests are united."

NEWT GINGRICH, SPEAKING VIA VIDEO LINK TO AIPAC CONFERENCE

"In a Gingrich administration, we would not keep talking while the Iranians keep building. We would indicate clearly that their failure to stop their program, is in fact crossing a red line.

"The red line is not the morning the bomb goes off, the red line is not the morning our intelligence community tells us they have failed once again.

"The red line is now, because the Iranians now are deepening their fortifications, deepening their underground laboratories, deepening their commitment to nuclear weapons while we talk. It is an unacceptable risk and we should not participate in it, but we should move from strength."

OBAMA SPEAKING AT WHITE HOUSE NEWS CONFERENCE

"At this stage, it is my belief that we have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically."

"What's said on the campaign trail, you know, those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. They're not commander-in-chief. And when I see the casualness with which some of these folks talk about war, I am reminded of the costs involved in war. I am reminded (of) the decision that I have to make in terms of sending our young men and women into battle and the impact that has on their lives, the impact it has on our national security, the impact it has on our economy.

"This is not a game. There is nothing casual about it. And, you know, when I see some of these folks who have a lot of bluster and a lot of big talk but when you actually ask them specifically what they would do, it turns out (that) they repeat the things that we've been doing over the last three years. It indicates to me that that's more about politics than actually trying to solve a difficult problem.

"Now, the one thing that we have not done is we haven't launched a war. If some of these folks think that it's time to launch a war, they should say so, and they should explain to the American people exactly why they would do that and what the consequences would be. Everything else is just talk."

"I think there's no doubt that those who are suggesting or proposing or beating the drums of war should explain clearly to the American people what they think the costs and benefits would be. I am not one of those people because what I've said is that we have a window through which we can resolve this issue peacefully, we have put forward an international framework that is applying unprecedented pressure, the Iranians just stated that they are willing to return to the negotiating table, and we have got the opportunity, even as we maintain that pressure, to see how it plays out."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-key-quotes-obama-republicans-spar-over-iran-211455696.html

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