Straw dismisses US nuke strike on Iran
He was commenting on an article in the New Yorker magazine claiming that the US has drawn up secret plans to attack facilities in Iran if necessary.
The article, by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, suggests that the Pentagon is even considering the possibility of a nuclear strike.
The Sunday Times reported leading neo-conservative Richard Perle as saying that an attack could be “over before anybody knew what had happened. The only question then would be what the Iranians might do in retaliation”.
However, Mr Straw branded Mr Perle as “a rather unreliable reporter on what happens in the administration”.
He added: “The idea of a nuclear strike on Iran is completely nuts.”
A team of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts is in Iran inspecting uranium enrichment and reprocessing plants - a visit Iran hopes will prove its nuclear intentions are peaceful.
Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, will also visit the country this week in a bid to secure concessions from its hardline government on its atomic programme.
The UN Security Council demanded on March 29 that Iran suspend enrichment and asked the IAEA to report back in 30 days on whether it had complied.
Mr Straw - who has said that military action against Iran is “inconceivable” - added: “I have made clear the British Government’s position on this time and time again which is widely shared across Europe.
“The American administration, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush use slightly different language. They say that it is not on the agenda, but it isn’t on the agenda.
“They are very committed indeed to resolving this issue ... by negotiation and, yes, by diplomatic pressure.”
Mr Straw told the BBC that Britain would not launch a preemptive strike on Iran, adding that he was as “certain as he could be” that neither would the US. There was “no smoking gun” and therefore no justification for military action.
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