CONSHOHOCKEN, April 22: Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton threatened to “totally obliterate” Iran if Tehran was ever “reckless” enough to launch a nuclear attack on Israel.

She later said her remark was an attempt to lay out a rationale for a Cold War-style system of deterrence with Iran, but her rival Barack Obama accused her of sabre-rattling, as Pennsylvania held its crucial presidential primary.

Ms Clinton took her hawkish line in an interview with ABC television, when she was asked what she would do as president if Iran were to launch a nuclear strike on Israel.

“I want the Iranians to know that if I’m the president, we will attack Iran,” Hillary Clinton said.

“In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them.”

Later, Ms Clinton told reporters at a polling station in Conshohocken, outside Philadelphia, that Iran must be made aware of the “high price” it would have to pay for any nuclear strike.

If Iran were so “reckless to use them against the United States or an ally in a way that would destabilise the world, they would have to take the consequences,” she said.—AFP