Cheney revs up anti-Iran rhetoric; says US 'will not allow' Iran to go nuclear David Edwards and Jason Rhyne

Published: Monday October 22, 2007



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Print This Email This In what may be the boldest statements yet from the Bush administration regarding Iran's pursuit of nuclear capability, Vice President Dick Cheney pledged on Sunday that the US and international community is "prepared to impose serious consequences" on the Iranian regime if the nation did not abandon its uranium enrichment program. "The United States joins other nations in sending a clear message -- we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," Cheney said during a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The remarks come on the heels of comments at a press conference last week by President Bush warning of "World War III" if a nuclear weapon was ever developed by Iran. But White House spokesman Tony Fratto said on Monday that the Cheney remarks were not significantly different in substance than previous comments on the subject from Bush administration officials. "I wouldn't call it stepping up the rhetoric," Fratto said, asked if the close timing of comments about Iran from both President Bush and Cheney was purely coincidental. "In fact what the vice president said was a very clear review of the situation in the Middle East." "And by the way, it's not at all different from what he has said before, what the president has said before, what Secretary [Condoleeza] Rice has said before," he continued, adding that the administration was seeking a "diplomatic solution," and "working with our international partners in a unified way to put pressure on Iran to stop its activities." In his speech, Cheney detailed what he characterized as repeated violations of UN sanctions by Iran. "The Security Council has twice imposed sanctions on Iran and called on the regime to cease enriching uranium," the vice president stated. "Yet the regime continues to do so, and continues to practice delay and deception in an obvious attempt to buy time." "Given the nature of Iran's rulers," he continued, "the declarations of the Iranian President, and the trouble the regime is causing throughout the region -- including direct involvement in the killing of Americans -- our country and the entire international community cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions." According to the AFP, "Cheney's warning to Iran recalled UN Security Council resolutions in 2002 that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein faced 'serious consequences' if he failed to come clean on his alleged stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction." "This week we heard a significant ratcheting up of the rhetoric," former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who served under Presidents Clinton and George H.W. Bush, told the New York Times. Cheney's remarks were "strong words" with "serious implications," he says, according to the paper. Vice President Cheney in his speech sought to draw a distinction between the aims of the Iranian government and the people of the country, who he said he believed "have every right to be free from oppression, from economic deprivation, and tyranny in their own country." "The spirit of freedom is stirring in Iran," he stated. "The voices of change and peaceful dissent will not be silent. We can expect to hear more from the courageous reformers, the bloggers, and the advocates of rights for women and ethnic and religious minorities, because these men and women are more loyal to their country than to the regime." "America," he remarked, "looks forward to the day when Iranians reclaim their destiny; the day that our two countries, as free and democratic nations, can be the closest of friends." The following video is from The Associated Press, broadcast on October 21, 2007.



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