>>> now we want to turn to some of the day's other news. war of words over iran's nuclear ambitions. tonight president obama says he's not bluffing about using military action if needed, to stop iran from getting a nuclear weapon. making his strongest comments yet on this subject, sending a message to iran and to israel and the gop candidates who have been critical of his iran policy. we get our report on this from our chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell.
>> reporter: president obama gearing up for a critical meeting with israel's prime minister netanyahu monday and his own speech this weekend to america's strongest pro- israel lobby, took his hardest line yet against iran. telling "the atlantic" jeffrey goldberg, i don't bluff. i don't go around advertising exactly what our intenses are,s but i think both the iranian and israeli governments recognize when the united states says it is unacceptable for iran to have a nuclear weapon, we mean what we say. mr. obama faces pressure from all sides on iran. at a campaign fund-raiser in new york last night, a woman opposing military action presumably paid $1,000 for the privilege of yelling at him.
>> none of this -- nobody announced a war, young lady. we appreciate your sentiment. you're jumping the gun a little bit there.
>> reporter: the president's immediate challenge is monday's visit from israel's prime minister netanyahu. their ninth meeting, including a tenth oval office face-off last may, when netanyahu appeared to be lecturing the president. in canada today, the prime minister previewed the hard line he will present to the president, a demand iran shut down its nuclear program, which iran claims is peaceful.
>> dismantle the underground nuclear facility and stop enrichment inside iran, and get all the enriched material out of iran.
>> reporter: "the atlantic's" jeffrey goldberg sat down with the president.
>> i was struck how strong and clearly he was speaking how central this issue is to him.
>> reporter: mr. obama's clear intent, warn israel not to attack and try to get iran to negotiate seriously. israel is holtly debating the military option and many say getting closer to a preemptive strike, with or without the u.s.
>> it is more likely than not because prime minister netanyahu so strongly supports a strike, israel will choose to strike iran in the coming months.
>> reporter: facing tough criticism from republican can't kats, as well, president obama complained to "the atlantic," his support for israel is still being questioned, even though he says he backed israel on every issue for three years. that's going to be his message to the prime minister who placed the possibility of military action against iran on the table. brian?
>> andrea mitchell in our d.c. newsroom tonight, thanks.
