|
US-Iran relations continue to pose problems
Iran, a country that has bedeviled the United States for decades, could prove to be the biggest foreign policy challenge facing whoever wins the presidential election. The Iraq war and a spy scandal linking the Pentagon and Israel could complicate U.S. hopes of halting Iran's nuclear ambitions. Both President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry say they want to use diplomacy -- although with different approaches -- to prevent a hostile Islamic state in the volatile Middle East from arming itself with nuclear weapons. But U.S. ability to sound the international alarm on Iran has been damaged after much of its intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs proved to be wrong. And its credibility could be further hurt by suspicions that a Pentagon official passed secrets about Iran to Israel.Neither Bush nor Kerry advocates a preemptive strike on Iran. "The military option is always the last option for a president, not the first," Bush said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show. Yet Iran, by many standards, poses a greater threat than Saddam ever did. As they did with Iraq, U.S. officials suspect Iran has chemical and biological weapons. But Iran's nuclear program is much more advanced than Saddam's program was believed to be. U.S. officials say Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium within a year and a nuclear weapon three years after that. Iran says its nuclear program is for making electricity, not weapons. The nuclear program was in the spotlight Tuesday as the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported the arrest of a group of spies, including several who passed the secrets abroad. Intelligence Minister Ali Yunesi said members of the Mujahedeen Khalq, an armed opposition group, were behind the spying. In addition to nuclear worries, the United States has long considered Iran the world's most active state sponsor of terror. Iran has supported militant Palestinian groups, and U.S. officials say it has been a safe haven for Al-Qaida members. In 2001, Bush called Iran part of an "axis of evil." Yet his administration has been divided on how to deal with it. Some, many with Pentagon ties, favor a tougher approach. Others, many in the State Department, believe accommodation with Iranian moderates is possible. Posted by: Dan Darling 2004-09-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=42051 |