Cheney ups anti-Iran rhetoric
US vice president Dick Cheney warns that America will never allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons
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Monday, 22, Oct 2007 01:04
The vice president of the United States, Dick Cheney, has maintained his country's increasingly hostile criticism of Iran.
He said in a speech in Washington that the US could not stand by idly while a "terror-supporting state" acquired nuclear weapons.
Iran protests that its uranium enrichment programme is for entirely peaceful purposes, but America is convinced it is seeking nuclear arms.
Last week president George Bush predicted a third global conflict if Iran obtained nuclear weapon capabilities.
And Mr Cheney told the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that Tehran should expect "serious consequences" if it continued along its current path.
"The United States joins other nations in sending a clear message - we will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon," he said, in a speech that came a day after the resignation of the Middle Eastern country's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani.
Mr Larijani's resignation has been seen as evidence that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has convinced supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei that a more aggressive approach should be employed towards the west on nuclear issues.
According to Mr Cheney, Iran itself has become a "growing obstacle to peace", before issuing a further condemnation of Mr Ahmadinejad and his administration.
"He has called repeatedly for the destruction of Israel; has spoken of his yearning for a world without the United States," the US vice president commented.
"In the space of a generation, the regime has solidified its grip on the country and grown ever more arrogant and brutal toward the Iranian people," he continued.
"Operating largely in the shadows, Iran attempts to hide its hands through the use of militants who target and kill coalition and Iraqi security forces. Iran's real agenda appears to include promoting violence against the coalition.
"The Iranian regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences," Mr Cheney concluded.