October 02, 2007	Tuesday	Ramazan 19, 1428

WASHINGTON: The outgoing British ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning, insists the US remains committed to the diplomatic route over Iran rather than contemplating air strikes, despite recent sabre-rattling from the White House.

Although Washington continues to hum with predictions of military action — one insider on Capitol Hill said there was a 50-50 chance of such a strike next year — Sir David said he had not heard anything from inside the US administration.

In an interview, Sir David said he was aware of the speculation but pointed out that there was “always a distinction to be drawn between debates that may go on in think tanks or whatever”.

“I think the place to be looking is at the administration, the governments ... and there is no doubt in my mind there is a determination to persist with that [diplomatic] policy.”

That strategy suffered a severe setback when the leading members of the United Nations security council failed to reach agreement on new sanctions against Iran and postponed further talks until next month. Russia and China refused to support a sanctions resolution proposed by the US, Britain and France.

But Sir David said reasons to be optimistic remained. He cited other seemingly intractable problems such as Libya and, though still ongoing, North Korea, as examples of diplomacy having worked. There were signs of internal political movement in Tehran, he said.

Asked whether President George Bush and the vice-president, Dick Cheney, would be tempted to take military action next year rather than leave office with Iran unresolved, Sir David said: “I can’t comment on a hypothetical. All I know is that for the past two years the US has supported a policy of negotiation accompanied by sanctions, and I have absolutely no indication from anybody that that is about to be changed or that they want to change it.” The US, Britain and France believe Iran is intent on building a nuclear weapon capability, but Tehran says its objective is simply a source of energy for civilian purposes.

Sir David, who retires this week from the post he has held since 2003, has been a pivotal figure in British foreign policy in the past six years. He was Tony Blair’s foreign policy adviser between 2001 and 2003, during which time he established a close relationship with Condoleezza Rice, now secretary of state. —Dawn/The Guardian News Service