U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that Iran could trigger “World War III” if it developed nuclear weapons, the New York Times reported (see GSN, Oct. 17).

“We got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel,” Bush said during a press conference, referring to a statement by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel “will disappear soon” (Sheryl Stolberg, New York Times, Oct. 18).

“So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” he said (Matt Spetalnick, Reuters/Yahoo!News, Oct. 17).

Bush said that sanctions and other diplomatic efforts against Iran were intended to force a change in leadership, the Times reported.

“The whole strategy is that, you know, at some point in time leaders or responsible folks inside of Iran may get tired of isolation and say, ‘This isn’t worth it,’ and to me it’s worth the effort to keep the pressure on this government,” Bush said.

“My intent is to continue to rally the world, to send a focused signal to the Iranian government that we will continue to work to isolate you in the hopes that at some point somebody else shows up and says it’s not worth the isolation,” he said.

Bush rejected the idea that he is at odds with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the Iran nuclear standoff. Putin recently said there was “no evidence” of an Iranian nuclear weapons program and this week traveled to Tehran. Moscow has also been reluctant to consider a third round of U.N. sanctions on Iran.

“We don’t agree on a lot of issues,” Bush said. “We do agree on some: Iran is one; nuclear proliferation is another” (Stolberg, New York Times).

Bush added that he was waiting for details from Putin about his meeting with Ahmadinejad and an undisclosed proposal he reportedly made to Iran’s supreme leader to end the standoff over Iran’s refusal to stop enriching uranium Agence France-Presse reported.

“I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's readout from the meeting,” Bush said.

“The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbor the same concerns that I do,” he said.

“Because when I visited with him, he (said he) understands that it's in the world's interests to make sure that Iran does not have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon.”

Hours after Putin completed his visit to Iran, Israel announced that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would today hold what one official called a “last-minute, urgent meeting” with the Russian president in Russia, AFP reported.

“The two intend to discuss a series of regional issues, including the peace process with the Palestinians, Iran's threat and attempt to acquire nuclear weapons, and developments in the region,” Olmert's office said (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Oct. 17).

Meanwhile, European nations remained split over the timing and severity of proposed EU sanctions against Iran for its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment activities, the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Oct. 16).

EU foreign ministers held discussions Monday over possible sanctions against Iran independent of a possible future U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution. Officials said the meeting was “fractious” and “intense,” adding that there was “a bit of blood left on the carpet” from the debate.

France and the United Kingdom have pushed for proposed EU sanctions while Italy and Austria have only supported much smaller measures while Germany has sought a middle ground, officials said.

The Bush administration has expressed concern that the international community has been losing focus on the U.S. goal of economically isolating Iran. Russia and China blocked a new Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran last month until the U.N. nuclear watchdog and EU foreign policy chief report on their progress in nuclear negotiations in November.

In an effort to continue stepping up pressure on Iran, the United States and Europe announced in September that they would move to impose independent sanctions.

However, a European official close to the talks said the United States has advocated moves to punish Iran for its Al-Quds force’s suspected involvement in Iraq while Europe has not wanted to “confuse” the issue with Iran’s uranium enrichment program.

“We want to keep our eyes on the nuclear file,” said another European official.

A U.S. official said yesterday that the United States does not seek to “foist” a specific set sanctions agreement on Europe. “We have not suggested that they emulate exactly what we may or may not do,” he said.

A high-level U.S. official in Europe said there is no divide on Iran policy between the United States and Europe. “They're accepting our premise and just haggling over the details,” he said (Robin Wright, Washington Post, Oct. 18).


Source : http://www.nti.org