[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [Iran01] Rice issues threat to Iran

[Barbara kessel]

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From: Michael Lynn <mlynn226 at gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Jul 10, 2008 at 4:29 PM
Subject: [Iran01] Rice issues threat to Iran
To: nowaroniran-announcements at googlegroups.com, "NoIraqWar at yahoogroups.com"
<NoIraqWar at yahoogroups.com>, ICPJ Iran Working Group <iran01 at ilcpj.org>


chicagotribune.com Rice says US will defend Gulf; Iran tests missiles

By ANNE GEARAN and MATTHEW LEE

Associated Press Writers

4:10 PM CDT, July 10, 2008

WASHINGTON

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Condoleezza Rice flexed America's muscles in the Middle East Thursday,
forcefully warning Iran the U.S. won't ignore threats and will take any
action necessary to defend friends and interests in the Persian Gulf. A
fresh Iranian missile test prompted a show of force from Israel as well.

Rice said Iran's leaders should understand that Washington won't dismiss
provocations from Tehran and has the ability to counter them. "I don't think
the Iranians are too confused, either, about the capability and the power of
the United States to do exactly that," she said.

Though the White House has repeatedly asserted it prefers diplomacy to war,
Rice used some of the administration's most direct language yet to make
clear the U.S. is strengthening its military presence to counter Iran in the
strategic Gulf region and is prepared to use force. She also referred to
U.S. arms sales to Gulf allies and military aid to Israel as protections
against any threat from Iran.

"We take very, very strongly our obligation to help our allies defend
themselves, and no one should be confused about that," Rice said in Tbilisi,
Georgia, before returning to Washington from a trip to Eastern Europe.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, noted Iranian
testing of a longer-range missile, representing a "capability that raises
the ante in the long run in that part of the world."

Asked on a trip to Afghanistan whether the U. S. had strengthened its
position, he said, "We have a very robust presence in that part of the
world, have had for some time, and we're robust enough to be able to adjust
constantly, which is what we do, and we also try not to be very predictive
about where we go and when we go and what we do there."

Rice's remarks were part of a rising rhetorical and strategic face-off
between Iran on one side and the United States and Israel on the other. The
posturing has raised concerns worldwide about a possible shooting war.

The most likely scenario for that would be an Israeli strike to reduce or
eliminate the threat that Iran could soon field a nuclear weapon. Israel
could theoretically launch an air strike against one or more of Iran's known
nuclear sites and at least set back the timetable for a bomb.

Israel has announced no such intention, although neither it nor its U.S.
protector will rule out the possibility and Israel has sent multiple signals
that it is ready to defend itself.

On Thursday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said his country "proved in
the past that it won't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are
at stake."

Also Thursday, Israel displayed its latest spy plane in what defense
officials said was a show of strength in response to Iranian war games and
missile tests. Last month, Israel's military sent warplanes over the eastern
Mediterranean for a large military exercise that U.S. officials described as
a possible rehearsal for a strike on Iran's atomic project.

Iran's latest testing was announced hours after Rice spoke on Thursday.
Wednesday's tests were conducted at the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic
waterway at the mouth of the Persian Gulf through which up to 40 percent of
the world's oil passes. Oil prices rose Thursday after the new announcement.

A U.S. official said analysts had determined Tehran launched seven ballistic
missiles and two rockets on the first night. But it appeared that only one
weapon -- an anti-ship missile -- was launched on the second night, the
official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to speak on the record about the ongoing intelligence analysis.

Whatever the military importance of the testing, Iran has sharply stepped up
its warnings of retaliation if attacked. This week, a top official of Iran's
Revolutionary Guards, Ali Shirazi, warned Tel Aviv would be "set on fire" in
any Iranian retaliation.

Rice said the U.S. preparations, along with a planned missile shield she was
in Europe this week to advance, "are all elements of America's intention and
determination to prevent Iran from threatening our interests or the
interests of our friends and allies."

The proposed shield "will make it more difficult for Iran to threaten and be
bellicose and say terrible things," Rice said, because with the shield in
place, "their missiles won't work." The shield is a largely untested work in
progress, and the proposed defense system from Eastern Europe is at least
four years off.

Rice spoke at a press conference with Georgia's U.S.-backed president at the
close of a three-day trip to Eastern Europe that highlighted the troubled
U.S. relationship with Russia.

Unlike Iran, a U.S. adversary for nearly 30 years, Russia is a partner if
not an ally, and American and Russian leaders and diplomats meet regularly.
The largest disputes concern Russian attitudes and expectations for
territory the old Soviet Union once held outright or controlled from afar.

That's the case with Georgia, a former Soviet republic that accuses its
larger neighbor of encouraging separatist movements born out of the Soviet
breakup.

"I'm not going to try to judge Russian motives, I'm only concerned about the
actions at this point," Rice said. She said Russia should help instead of
hurt prospects for a peaceful settlement of Georgia's dispute with
separatists in the breakaway province of Abkhazia.

___

AP Diplomatic Writer Anne Gearan reported from Tbilisi, Georgia. AP Writer
Jason Straziuso contributed from Afghanistan.


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