Condoleezza Rice: Attack on Iran over its nuclear program is “not on the agenda at this point,”
The Globe and Mail: No current plan to attack Iran, Rice says: "No current plan to attack Iran, Rice says
London — An attack on Iran over its nuclear program is “not on the agenda at this point,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.
“We have many diplomatic tools still at our disposal and we intend to pursue them fully,” Ms. Rice told a news conference after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Asked if a military attack was possible, she replied that “The question is simply not on the agenda at this point.”
However, she warned that Iran must not “use the cover” of civilian nuclear power development “to sustain a program that can lead to a nuclear weapon.”
European governments have made it clear they would not support military action against Iran over its uranium enrichment program. The United States insists Iran intends to use the program to build nuclear weapons.
Britain, France and Germany have been holding talks with Tehran in an attempt to have the uranium enrichment program permanently frozen. But the Bush administration has been cool to the European diplomacy, preferring economic sanctions against Iran.
In his State of the Union speech Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush called Iran “the world's primary state sponsor of terror.”
At her confirmation hearings last month, Rice said the United States wants “a regime in Iran that is responsive to concerns that we have about Iran's policies, which are 180 degrees” antithetical to U.S. interests.
Iran's supreme leader on Thursday said that Mr. Bush's policies toward Iran would fail.
“America is like one of the big heads of a seven-headed dragon,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in Tehran. “The brains directing it are Zionist and non-Zionist capitalists who brought Bush to power to meet their own interests.”
Ms. Rice met earlier in the day with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, her first meeting with a foreign leader since taking over from Colin Powell as America's top diplomat. She is to visit several European capitals and the Middle East over the coming days."
London — An attack on Iran over its nuclear program is “not on the agenda at this point,” U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday.
“We have many diplomatic tools still at our disposal and we intend to pursue them fully,” Ms. Rice told a news conference after a meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Asked if a military attack was possible, she replied that “The question is simply not on the agenda at this point.”
However, she warned that Iran must not “use the cover” of civilian nuclear power development “to sustain a program that can lead to a nuclear weapon.”
European governments have made it clear they would not support military action against Iran over its uranium enrichment program. The United States insists Iran intends to use the program to build nuclear weapons.
Britain, France and Germany have been holding talks with Tehran in an attempt to have the uranium enrichment program permanently frozen. But the Bush administration has been cool to the European diplomacy, preferring economic sanctions against Iran.
In his State of the Union speech Wednesday, U.S. President George W. Bush called Iran “the world's primary state sponsor of terror.”
At her confirmation hearings last month, Rice said the United States wants “a regime in Iran that is responsive to concerns that we have about Iran's policies, which are 180 degrees” antithetical to U.S. interests.
Iran's supreme leader on Thursday said that Mr. Bush's policies toward Iran would fail.
“America is like one of the big heads of a seven-headed dragon,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in Tehran. “The brains directing it are Zionist and non-Zionist capitalists who brought Bush to power to meet their own interests.”
Ms. Rice met earlier in the day with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, her first meeting with a foreign leader since taking over from Colin Powell as America's top diplomat. She is to visit several European capitals and the Middle East over the coming days."
posted by JBOC | 4:45 AM
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