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NEW YORK Hillary Rodham Clinton cast doubt on the interim nuclear agreement with Iran, saying in a muscular policy speech here Wednesday night that she is personally skeptical that Irans leaders will follow through on a comprehensive agreement to end their march toward nuclear weapons.

Still, the former secretary of state and potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate told a pro-Israel audience in New York that she stands behind the Obama administrations negotiations with Iran, and she commended the work of her successor, John F. Kerry.

Clinton said the United States should give space for diplomacy to work and avoid imposing new unilateral sanctions or any other actions that might lead any allies to back out of existing international sanctions against Iran.

The odds of reaching that comprehensive agreement are not good, Clinton said. I am also personally skeptical that the Iranians would follow through and deliver. I have seen their behavior over the years. But this is a development that is worth testing.

If the negotiations with Iran fail, however, Clinton said the United States should explore every other option.

Lets be clear, she said, every other option does remain on the table.

In a 30-minute address at an American Jewish Congress gala where she was honored with a lifetime achievement award by actress Julianna Margulies and serenaded at the dinner table by Israeli singer Liel Kolet Clinton presented herself as a tough defender of Israel in the Senate and at the State Department.

When Americans of all faiths look at Israel, we see a homeland for a people long oppressed and a democracy that has to defend itself at every turn, Clinton said. In Israels story, we see our own.

Clinton described in detail her role in shaping the countrys policies with regard to Iran from the earliest days of the Obama administration. This is likely to be a focus of her forthcoming memoir, due out this spring, which she teased in a separate speech earlier Wednesday.

Addressing the Association of American Publishers, Clinton said the book would cover challenges in the 21st century from Crimea to climate change. Just another light summer read, she quipped.

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Hillary Clinton says she is personally skeptical about an Iran nuclear deal

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton is talking tough about Russia these days, for reasons both pragmatic and political.

The overwhelming favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, if she decides to run, Clinton already faces GOP criticism for allegedly being soft on Moscow as President Barack Obama's secretary of state until last year.

A recent Republican National Committee statement mocked the "reset" button she offered to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in 2009 in what was a symbolic effort by the Obama administration to move past Russia's military backing for two breakaway regions in Georgia.

Now Russia's attempted annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine, another former Soviet territory, has again put Washington-Moscow relations in the spotlight.

Using generally stronger and more provocative language than the administration she once represented, Clinton seeks to buff her own foreign policy credentials and those of her party without straying too far from the official government messaging and tactics.

"She has to walk a very fine line"

"She has to walk a very fine line," Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller said of the former first lady and U.S. senator.

The goal is to maintain her credibility as a former secretary of state, and the Democratic Party's credibility on security and defense issues, as the nation heads toward congressional elections in November and the presidential vote two years later, Schiller told CNN.

"She sees it as important not just for her but for the Democratic Party as a whole," Schiller said. Otherwise, "you go from the party that killed Osama bin Laden to the party that can't stop Vladimir Putin."

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Clinton's fine line on Putin

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Washington (CNN) -- Hillary Clinton is talking tough about Russia these days, for reasons both pragmatic and political.

The overwhelming favorite for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, if she decides to run, Clinton already faces GOP criticism for allegedly being soft on Moscow as President Barack Obama's secretary of state until last year.

A recent Republican National Committee statement mocked the "reset" button she offered to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in 2009 in what was a symbolic effort by the Obama administration to move past Russia's military backing for two breakaway regions in Georgia.

Now Russia's attempted annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from neighboring Ukraine, another former Soviet territory, has again put Washington-Moscow relations in the spotlight.

Using generally stronger and more provocative language than the administration she once represented, Clinton seeks to buff her own foreign policy credentials and those of her party without straying too far from the official government messaging and tactics.

"She has to walk a very fine line"

"She has to walk a very fine line," Brown University political scientist Wendy Schiller said of the former first lady and U.S. senator.

The goal is to maintain her credibility as a former secretary of state, and the Democratic Party's credibility on security and defense issues, as the nation heads toward congressional elections in November and the presidential vote two years later, Schiller told CNN.

"She sees it as important not just for her but for the Democratic Party as a whole," Schiller said. Otherwise, "you go from the party that killed Osama bin Laden to the party that can't stop Vladimir Putin."

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Clinton walks a 'fine line' on Putin

Montreal (CNN) - Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday that the conflict between Russia and Western allies over Crimea is a "clash of values" and that its up to Russian President Vladimir Putin whether there's "another Cold War."

"I hope there is not another Cold War," Clinton said during the question and answer portion of an appearance in Montreal. "Obviously, nobody wants to see that. I think that is primarily up to Putin."

Clinton added that Putin's annexation of Crimea, a move that has rankled Western allies and led the United States to sanction some Russian leaders, is an effort by the Russian leader to "rewrite the boundaries of post-World War II Europe."

CNN Poll: Who's tougher: Clinton or Obama?

Despite Western allies calling the annexation illegal a charge Clinton echoed Putin officially announced Russian control of Crimea on Tuesday after voters in that semi-autonomous territory approved a referendum on separating from Ukraine.

The United States, the European Union and Ukraine do not recognize the annexation, however, and relations between Russia and the United State have been damaged by the move.

Back at home, the issue has turned political, with Republican lawmakers questioning President Barack Obama's handling of Putin. Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, in an op-ed published Tuesday, critiqued both Obama and Clinton for the current state of United States' foreign policy.

Hillary Clinton must once again win over some in Jewish community

During her remarks at a 4,300-person event hosted by the Board of Trade Metropolitan Montreal, Clinton worried that allowing Putin to get away with the annexation of Crimea could have repercussion in the region.

"If he is allowed to get away with that, I think you will see a lot of other countries either directly facing Russian aggression or suborned with their political system so that they are so intimidated that in effect they are transformed into vassals, not sovereign democracies," Clinton warned. "There is a lot at stake here."

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Hillary Clinton: Its up to Putin whether theres 'another Cold War'

New York (CNN) Hillary Clinton cast doubt Wednesday on whether Iran would ultimately agree to halt its nuclear program, the end goal of a longstanding U.S. effort that President Barack Obama has touted as a top foreign policy achievement.

Clinton told the American Jewish Congress in New York that she was personally skeptical that the Iranians would follow through and deliver on the interim deal Obama announced late last year, which mandated Iran reduce its stockpile of highly enriched uranium and allow inspectors into some of its facilities.

I have seen their behavior over years, Clinton said of Iran. But this is a development that is worth testing.

Obama has maintained optimism a final deal can be reached with Iran to end its nuclear program, though hes admitted the plan may not succeed.

On Tuesday, Clinton said there were other routes for the United States should the talks fail.

Lets be clear, Clinton said. Every other option does remain on the table.

But speaking to an audience of Jewish leaders that included several members of Congress, the former secretary of state also backed Obama in dissuading Congress from passing further sanctions on Iran during negotiations.

If the world judges fairly or unfairly that negotiations have collapsed because of the actions by our Congress, even some of our closest partners will falter, she said. So we want to give space for diplomacy to work.

A bipartisan group of senators was poised to pass additional sanctions on Iran last year, though calls for a vote died down after Obama said he needed time for diplomacy to work with Iran.

Clinton's appearance at the American Jewish Congress gala had its lighter moments. Clinton proclaimed herself a fan of The Good Wife on CBS, whose star Julianna Margulies introduced her. And Israeli singer Liel Kolet came down off the stage to serenade Clinton at her seat during the dinner.

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Hillary Clinton casts doubt on success of Iranian nuclear negotiations