CLEVELAND, March 20: US President George Bush said on Monday he hoped to resolve the nuclear dispute with Iran with diplomacy, but warned Tehran he would ‘use military might’ if necessary to defend Israel.

“The threat from Iran is, of course, their stated objective to destroy our strong ally Israel. That’s a threat, a serious threat. It’s a threat to world peace,” the US president said after a speech defending the invasion of Iraq.

“I made it clear, and I’ll make it clear again, that we will use military might to protect our ally Israel,” said Mr Bush, who was apparently referring to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s call for the destruction of Israel.

On the atomic dispute, Mr Bush said he hoped ‘to solve this issue diplomatically’ with a ‘united message’ to Tehran from Washington, London, Paris, Berlin as well as Russia ‘hopefully’ and China.

The message would be that ‘your desire to having a nuclear weapon is unacceptable’, he said.

Mr Bush also touched on Iran’s agreement to discuss Iraq with the United States, saying that ‘it’s very important, however, for the Iranians to understand that the discussion is limited to Iraq’.

“We’re using this as an opportunity to make it clear about our concerns of interference within a democratic process that is evolving,” he said, saying that the talks will not decide Iran’s relations with a sovereign Iraq.—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

Climate resilience
28 Nov, 2023

Climate resilience

It is critical to ensure climate resilience of the economy through sound climate-related public investment management.
Condemned to die
28 Nov, 2023

Condemned to die

ANOTHER day in Kohistan, another jirga-mandated murder of a girl. Her ‘crime’: dancing with boys in a video that...
Price of politics
28 Nov, 2023

Price of politics

THE big parties are not at all shy about the high price they have set on political ambition. According to a recent...
Lofty promises
Updated 27 Nov, 2023

Lofty promises

The true test for political parties will lie in the execution of plans they make before the polls.
PSX performance
27 Nov, 2023

PSX performance

THE relentless bulls have pushed away the bears — at least for now. The benchmark KSE-100 index touched a new record...
Democratic imperative
27 Nov, 2023

Democratic imperative

THE recent march in Lahore, led by the Progressive Students Collective, illustrates the urgent call from Pakistan’s...