Full Coverages>World>Iran Nuke Issue>News
   
 

Iran poses vexing problems for US

(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-01 16:56

Suspected of seeking nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism, Iran could prove to be the biggest foreign policy challenge for the winner of the U.S. presidential election.

U.S. President Bush and Democratic nominee John Kerry both say they want to use diplomacy — although with different approaches — to prevent what could be a nightmare scenario for the United States: a nuclear-armed, hostile Islamic state in the volatile Middle East.

But the United States' ability to sound an international alarm on Iran has been damaged after much of its intelligence on Saddam Hussein's weapons programs proved to be wrong. And its credibility could be further hurt by suspicions that a Pentagon official passed secrets about Iran to Israel.

Neither Bush nor Kerry advocates a pre-emptive strike on Iran. "The military option is always the last option for a president, not the first," Bush said in an interview broadcast Tuesday on NBC's "Today" show.

Yet Iran, by many standards, poses a greater threat to the United States than Saddam ever did.

As they did with Iraq, U.S. officials suspect Iran has chemical and biological weapons. But Iran's nuclear program is much more advanced than Saddam's program was believed to be. U.S. officials say Iran could produce weapons-grade uranium within a year and a nuclear weapon three years after that.

Iran says its nuclear program is for making electricity, not weapons.

The United States has long considered Iran the world's most active state sponsor of terror. Iran has supported militant Palestinian groups and U.S. officials say it has provided safe haven for al-Qaida members.

Though Iran is more democratic than other nations in the region, the United States continues to condemn its human rights record.

In 2001, Bush called Iran part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea. Yet his administration has been divided on how to deal with it. Some, mostly in the Pentagon, favor a tougher approach. Others, mostly in the State Department, believe some accommodation is possible with Iranian moderates.

Tehran has offered some signs of seeking better relations with the United States, providing some cooperation on narcotics policy and in the war in Afghanistan. A State Department paper says relations with Iran "are frequently confused and contradictory due to Iran's oscillation between pragmatic and ideological concerns."

In a speech Monday, Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards said the Bush administration "has stood on the sidelines" while both Iran and North Korea "advanced their nuclear programs."

Kerry holds out some hope that a negotiated solution with Iran is possible. He said the United States and other nations should "call their bluff" by offering nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes, then taking back the spent fuel so it can't be used for weapons.

If that process fails, the United States could try to ensure that the International Atomic Energy Agency takes the issue to the U.N. Security Council, where Iran could face sanctions.

Bush administration officials have suggested it is too late for incentives. National security adviser Condoleezza Rice said recently that Iran "has to be isolated in its bad behavior, not engaged."

The administration is expected to request Security Council action if the IAEA condemns Iran at a meeting Sept. 13.

Yet prospects for action at the U.N. are uncertain. Russia, which is building Iran's nuclear reactor, has a veto. Other council members also have trade relationships with Iran.

Bush has demanded that Iran give up its nuclear program, but it's unclear what he would do if Iran refuses and the United Nations doesn't act.

Winning either domestic or international support for military action against Iran would be difficult.

Invading Iran has never seemed a credible option, said Robert Malley, an adviser to President Clinton on Middle East issues. "I think it has become far less so after what has happened in Iraq," he said.

Yet Raymond Tanter of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he believes the next president will have little choice but to support the main Iranian opposition group, the MEK.

That group, however, is on the State Department's list of terrorist organizations and few politicians openly support it.

And Tanter says support for either military action or for using the MEK could be undermined by the investigation into whether Larry Franklin, a Middle East analyst at the Pentagon, provided classified information on Iran to Israel.

"Those people who would say unleash the MEK could be accused now of following a Zionist agenda," Tanter said. "The Franklin flap is quite damaging. It plays into Iran's hand."

 
  Story Tools  
   
 
     
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩精品视频观看| 第一福利官方导航大全| 国产鲁鲁视频在线观看| 中文字幕精品视频在线| 欧美大杂交18p| 免费在线观看毛片| 久久99精品久久久大学生| 正文农村老少伦小说| 四虎影8818| 黄+色+性+人免费| 在线A级毛片无码免费真人| 中文字幕在线最新在线不卡| 欧美videosdesexo肥婆| 国产xxxxxx久色视频在| 2020因为爱你带字幕免费观看全集| 成人免费视频网站www| 九九免费观看全部免费视频| 波多野结衣在线看片| 午夜高清啪啪免费观看完整| 麻豆国产高清精品国在线| 很污很黄能把下面看湿的文字| 亚一亚二乱码专区| 老公和他朋友一块上我可以吗| 国产精品亚洲精品日韩已方| jizz性欧美12| 护士系列sdde221取精 | 国自产拍91大神精品| 丝袜交kingfootjob| 日本欧美成人免费观看| 亚洲av无码第一区二区三区| 正在播放国产精品放孕妇| 免费无码AV一区二区| 色综合久久88色综合天天| 国产激情一区二区三区四区| 91亚洲欧美综合高清在线| 天天摸天天看天天做天天爽| 中文在线日本免费永久18近| 日本在线视频一区二区三区| 九九精品99久久久香蕉| 欧美三级欧美一级| 亚洲成人黄色在线观看|