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White House back pedals on Bush comments on Iran bomb

AFP
March 22, 2008

The White House on Friday sought to back pedal on comments by President George W. Bush accusing Iran of having said it was seeking a nuclear bomb.

The Islamic regime has always denied in recent years trying to arm itself with an atomic bomb, saying its nuclear program was a peaceful, civilian effort to meet its electricity needs.

But Bush in an interview with a US-controlled Farsi-language radio station said Iran has declared it wants nuclear weapons “to destroy people.”

Bush told Radio Farda, which broadcasts from Europe to Iran, that he supported Iran developing a civilian nuclear power program.

“It’s in their right to have it,” Bush said, according to a White House transcript of the interview made on Wednesday.

“The problem is the government cannot be trusted to enrich uranium because one, they’ve hidden programs in the past and they may be hiding one now, who knows; and secondly, they’ve declared they want to have a nuclear weapon to destroy people — some in the Middle East.”

The White House on Friday sought to downplay the remarks, saying Bush was merely speaking in shorthand.

“The president shorthanded his answer with regard to Iran’s previously secret nuclear weapons program and their current enrichment and ballistic missile testing,” said national security spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

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Petraeus: Iran backs Iraqi insurgents

Press TV
March 20, 2008

The top US commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, has accused Iran and Syria of supporting insurgents and foreign fighters in Iraq.

“We are concerned very much about the lethal accelerants, as they are called, that do come from Iran,” he said in Baghdad on Wednesday.

“And the same way we do about what comes through Syria.” CNN quoted Petraeus as saying.

The general’s comments on Iran comes just one day after Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, in a press conference in Jordan accused Iran of training Iraqi extremists in Iran and sending them back to Iraq.

McCain also expressed concern about a large cache of explosives found in Iraq and hinted that they may have been sent from Iran.

Iran strongly denies any meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs and has voiced its support for establishing peace and security in its neighboring country.