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U.S. Will Back Israel Against Iran, Bush Says
U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday the United States would support Israel if Iran were to develop a nuclear weapon, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Feb. 17). “Iran has made it clear they don’t like Israel, to put it bluntly. And the Israelis are concerned about whether or not Iran develops a nuclear weapon, as are we, as should everybody,” Bush said. “Clearly, if I was the leader of Israel and I’d listened to some of the statements by the Iranian ayatollahs that regarded the security of my country, I’d be concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon as well.” “And in that Israel is our ally and in that we’ve made a very strong commitment to support Israel, we will support Israel if her security is threatened,” he added. Bush said Iran’s nuclear program would be an important topic of discussion when he visits Europe next week. “The objective is to solve this issue diplomatically — is to work with friends, like we’re doing with France, Germany and Great Britain — to continue making it clear to the Iranians that developing a nuclear weapon will be unacceptable” (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Feb. 17). Tehran does not expect negotiations with the European powers to produce a “definitive result” by mid-March, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung, AFP reported. A round of expert-level negotiations is expected in mid-March before a steering committee meets at the end of March to make conclusions, according to AFP. Kharazi said Iran was prepared to continue to negotiate beyond that time “if we feel that the discussions have been positive.” “The Europeans must make some new proposals. We know the Europeans are concerned about our nuclear program. Now the Europeans must actually tell us how we can dispel those concerns.” Iran is looking to follow the Japanese model on nuclear work, Kharazi said. “Japan has no access to atomic weapons, but employs nuclear technology for peaceful uses,” he said (Agence France-Presse/IranMania.com, Feb. 17).
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