In Iran, Too, Netanyahu Speech Finds an Eager Audience

TEHRAN — The tensions between the United States and Israel over how to address Iran’s nuclear program and a politically divisive speech Tuesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the United States Congress are playing to an eager audience in Tehran.

The news media here has highlighted the division as evidence that Israel is being isolated by its otherwise steadfast ally and analysts are examining how the rift might affect the outcome of the nuclear negotiations.

“Israel’s prime minister tries to maximize the stakes and raise the expectation for the outcome of the talks,” Hamid Reza Taraghi, a political analyst close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said after Mr. Netanyahu’s speech Tuesday.

“Israel is trying to pressure us, to make Iran cave in,” he added. “No way that will ever happen.”

Mr. Netanyahu’s speech was eagerly anticipated by many Iranians, not because they believe he would be able to halt the nuclear talks, but because they said they hoped the Israeli leader’s blunt approach would turn American public opinion against him.

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