President Bush yesterday warned that allowing Iran to acquire nuclear weapons risks putting the Middle East “under the shadow of a nuclear holocaust.”
Mr. Bush, speaking at the American Legion conference in Reno, Nev., also took aim at congressional Democrats, who are complaining about slow political reform in Iraq while grudgingly acknowledging that the surge of 30,000 troops into Baghdad is delivering security to the war-torn nation.
In his speech before a friendly veterans group — his second in a week — Mr. Bush said Iran threatens the stability not only of the Middle East, but the world.
“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,” he said.
Tehran’s “actions threaten the security of nations everywhere,” Mr. Bush said. “And that is why the United States is rallying friends and allies around the world to isolate the regime, to impose economic sanctions. We will confront this danger before it is too late.”
In Tehran yesterday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the U.S. effort in Iraq was collapsing and that Iran was ready to step in to help fill the vacuum.
“The political power of the occupiers is collapsing rapidly,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said. “Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region. Of course, we are prepared to fill the gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation.”
Mr. Bush is not alone in his belief that Iran should not possess nuclear weapons.
Last week, although he made clear that he would not back the use of force, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a speech that “Iran with a nuclear weapon is not acceptable to me.”
The Bush administration charges that Iran is supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq, and Mr. Bush said yesterday that “the Iranian regime must halt these actions. Until it does, I will take the actions necessary to protect our troops. I have authorized our military commanders in Iraq to confront Tehran’s murderous activities.”
Mr. Bush also took aim at Democrats in Congress.
“They disregard the political advances on the local level, and instead charge that the slow pace of legislative progress on the national level proves that our strategy has not worked,” the president said. “This argument gets it backward. …
“It’s going to take time for the recent progress we have seen in security to translate into political progress,” Mr. Bush said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid criticized the president’s “flawed strategy,” which he said has failed to deliver in Iraq, diverted attention from battling al Qaeda and the military’s ability to respond to other crises.
“A change of course in Iraq is long overdue,” the Nevada Democrat.
c This article is based in part on wire-service reports
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