Clinton: Iran seeks to intimidate world

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Iran’s hardline leaders of fomenting divisions in the Arab world, promoting terrorism, posing threats to Israel and Europe, and seeking to “intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach”.

Her remarks yesterday, at the conclusion of two days of talks in Egypt, Israel and the West Bank, were notable for coming from an Obama administration that has raised the prospect of diplomatic engagement with Iran as part of a new direction in US foreign policy.

In remarks to reporters aboard her plane on its way from Ramallah to Brussels, Belgium, Mrs Clinton said that in her talks with Arab foreign ministers and other leaders she heard “over and over and over again” a deep-seated worry about threats posed by the Iranians.

“It is clear that Iran intends to interfere with the internal affairs of all of these people and try to continue their efforts to fund terrorism, whether it’s Hezbollah or Hamas or other proxies,” she said.

The sharp objections to Iranian behaviour made by Mrs Clinton are the same as those underlined by the Bush administration during its dealings with Tehran.

The difference is that Barack Obama’s administration says it sees merit in pressing the Iranians to discuss the problems, even if talks fail or the Iranians refuse to engage.

In the in-flight interview, Mrs Clinton repeated that Mr Obama was ready to engage in talks with Iran, with which Washington severed diplomatic relations after Iran’s Islamic revolution three decades ago.

“But we want to make sure it’s constructive,” she said.

She offered perhaps her strongest criticism when asked about the administration’s plans for building a missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Mrs Clinton focused on the administration’s assertion that the European missile defense system is not aimed at Russia but is necessary to deter Iran.

“Missiles not only with a nuclear warhead but a conventional warhead or some other chemical, biological weapon could very well be in the hands of a regime like Iran’s, which we know will use whatever advantage they have to intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach, and who are actively pursuing a missile development programme,” she said.

In Tehran yesterday, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, accused President Obama of following the same path as the Bush administration with his “unconditional” support of Israel.

He also called Israel a “cancerous tumour” on the verge of collapse and said Israeli leaders should be put on trial for its military offensive in Gaza, which ended with a shaky ceasefire in mid-January.

During her visit to Ramallah, Mrs Clinton met President Mahmoud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad, the leaders of the Palestinian Authority that administers the West Bank.

Mrs Clinton offered strong support for Mr Abbas and for pushing hard to restart peace talks with Israel. Standing next to him, she told a news conference that the Palestinian Authority was the “only legitimate government of the Palestinian people”.

She then flew to Brussels for a Nato foreign ministers’ meeting today that is expected to focus on developing a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan and prospects for improving relations with Russia.