BERLIN, Feb 5: US Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said on Sunday all possibilities are still open in the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, including military action, a German newspaper reported.

“All options _ including the military one _ are on the table,” the daily Handelsblatt quoted Mr Rumsfeld as saying in an interview to appear in its Monday edition.

“Any government that says Israel has no right to exist is making a statement about its possible behaviour in the future,” added Mr Rumsfeld, who attended a weekend security conference in Munich, Germany.

At that gathering, Mr Rumsfeld accused Tehran of sponsoring terrorism _ a point that he underlined in the Handelsblatt interview.

Iran is the ‘main sponsor of terrorist organisations such as Hezbollah and Hamas’, he was quoted as saying.

Senator McCain: Influential US Senator John McCain told America’s allies on Saturday that the military option could not be ruled out if all diplomatic efforts fail to stop Iran developing a nuclear bomb.

“Every option must remain on the table,” Senator McCain said in a speech to an international security conference. “There’s only one thing worse than military action, that is a nuclear armed Iran.”

The Arizona Republican said allies ‘need to stay united to answer this grave challenge’.

“You cannot remove the military option from the table, but it is a totally undesirable option and one that can only be considered after all other options are attempted,” he said later.

“The NATO allies will certainly have to discuss Iran, but if you ask me, ‘is a military option on the NATO radar screen?’ My answer is no’,” alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told the conference in response to a question on Mr McCain’s comments.

Mr McCain warned that an attempt by Iran to develop atomic weapons could spark a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, and appealed for Russia and China to back tough action against Tehran in the UN Security Council.

“It is in the interests of Russia and China to support these moves, notwithstanding their business interests,” Mr McCain said. —AP