Obama to issue 'clear and direct' challenge to Tehran over nuclear issue

President Barack Obama said on Thursday that he will not engage in any "chest beating" over Iran's nuclear program, but plans to issue a "clear and direct" challenge to Tehran during his Middle East trip this month, sources familiar with his comments told CNN. During a White House meeting with Jewish American leaders, Obama said he will still seek a diplomatic resolution with Iran over its nuclear program, but repeated that no options, including military ones, are off the table, one source told CNN in a story posted on the CNN web site on Thursday night. In two weeks Obama will travel to the region, where he is expected to be pressed by the Israeli government on the Iran nuclear issue. Regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Obama told the group that he will not unveil his own Mideast peace plan when in Israel because such a move would be "premature," the sources said to CNN. The President told the participants that does not mean the United States would not be in the middle of a "policy initiative" within the next year. He told the group he was determined for a "just resolution" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but said he thought prospects were "bleak," one participant told CNN. Obama will also visit the West Bank and Jordan.