LONDON, June 20: The United States reserves the right to take military action against Iran over its nuclear programme, a senior member of the US administration said on Friday, but added that any such move was “far from our minds” at present.

John Bolton, Undersecretary of State for arms control and international security, told BBC radio that military action was a last resort, but insisted that Iran could not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapons capability.

Interviewed on the BBC’s Today programme, Mr Bolton said US President George Bush “has repeatedly said that all options are on the table. But that (military action) is not only not our preference, it is far far from our minds”. Pressed on whether military action remained a possibility, Mr Bolton said: “It has to be an option.”

“Nuclear weapons are incredibly dangerous and when you couple the Iranian nuclear programme with their aggressive efforts to expand the range of their ballistic missiles, they are bringing more and more of our friends and allies within range.”

John Bolton added: “What our objective is now is to stop the Iranian nuclear weapons programme before they achieve a weapons capability.

“They are pursing multiple routes to nuclear weapons and we need to get that stopped.”

Iran says it is seeking nuclear power for civilian uses, a position Washington has overtly rejected. —AFP