(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-01-13 15:58

Push to Isolate Iran

During a stop in Israel at the start of the Middle East trip last week, Bush warned Iran with "serious consequences" if it attacked US ships, and said all options were on the table.

Washington is leading efforts to isolate Iran over its nuclear ambitions, and Bush said late last year that a nuclear-armed Iran could mean "World War III."

The Bush administration has kept up a campaign of harsh rhetoric despite a US intelligence report in December that concluded Iran had halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003, contradicting the president's longstanding assertion that Tehran was actively pursuing development of a bomb.

Bush has insisted that Iran remains a danger. Tehran says it wants nuclear technology for strictly civilian purposes.

But the National Intelligence Estimate has left Washington's Arab allies worried and confused. They share US concerns about Tehran's growing regional influence but want efforts at containment to be done without resorting to military means.

Kuwait, the first stop on Bush's Gulf tour, has said it will not allow the United States to use its territory for any strike against Iran.

Bush later on Sunday will visit the United Arab Emirates and make his "signature" speech of the trip on advancing democracy.

He will also visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week as he tries to rally Arab support for his Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking efforts.

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