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Bush threatens confrontation

New York: United States President George Bush on Tuesday ramped up the war of words between the U.S. and Iran, accusing the Iranian regime of threatening to place West Asia under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust and revealing that he had authorised U.S. military commanders in Iraq to “confront Tehran’s murderous activities”.

In a speech designed to shore up American public opinion behind his increasingly unpopular strategy in Iraq, the President reserved his strongest words for the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which he accused of openly supporting violent forces within Iraq. Iran, he said, was responsible for training extremist Shia factions in the country, supplying them with weapons, including sophisticated roadside bombs.

He referred specifically to 240mm rockets that he said had been made in Iran this year and smuggled into Iraq by Iranian agents.

“Iran has long been a source of trouble in the region. Iran’s active pursuit of technology that could lead to nuclear weapons threatens to put a region already known for instability and violence under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.”

The blunt terms in which Mr Bush portrayed the Iranian threat, and his open threat of military confrontation with Tehran involving U.S. troops based in Iraq, elevates the increasingly tense stand-off between Washington and Tehran to a new level. His speech also contained the implicit desire on Mr Bush’s part for regime change, calling for “an Iran whose government is accountable to its people, instead of to leaders who promote terror and pursue the technology that could be used to develop nuclear weapons”.

Equally menacing words emanated from Tehran on Tuesday, where Mr Ahmadinejad said U.S. influence in the region was collapsing so fast that a power vacuum would soon be created. “Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap,” he said.

Though the Iranian leader said he backed the leadership of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, and welcomed the involvement of Saudi Arabia, his offer to occupy the space the Americans might leave behind is unlikely to cool emotions in Washington. He went on to deride the possibility of the U.S. pursuing military action in Iran, saying it was in no position to do so, and claiming that Iran had already acquired enriched nuclear fuels.

“Today, Iran is a nuclear Iran,” he said. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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