War with Iran not ruled out by Bush

US President George Bush refuses to rule out war with Iran. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami says his country is ready to defend itself against a possible US attack.

The United States is pushing for a peaceful solution to its nuclear impasse with Iran but, with mistrust on both sides running high, encouraging signs are hard to find.

“You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list,” Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday, hours before being sworn in to a second term.

Perhaps the most pessimistic comment of all this week came from Democratic Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware.

“There may be nothing we can do to persuade Iran not to develop weapons of mass destruction,” Biden said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice.

Both Rice and Cheney made clear that that the nuclear diplomacy that the United States has been pursuing in the UN nuclear watchdog agency will continue.

They said the administration could raise the stakes with Iran by referring the nuclear question to the UN Security Council if Iran does not abide by its non-proliferation commitments.

The administration has been hopeful that a non-proliferation initiative being carried out by Germany, France and Britain with Iran will produce results.

But the administration is sceptical that Iran is bargaining on good faith. For its part, Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at producing energy, not weapons.

Rice made clear that US differences with Iran go well beyond its nuclear program.

“It’s really hard to find common ground with a government that thinks Israel should be extinguished,” she told senators.

Khatami, travelling in Africa yesterday, seemed unconcerned about the consequences of a possible US attack.

“We have prepared ourselves,” he said. He added that he did not anticipate any “lunatic” military move by the US because Washington has too many problems in Iraq.