WASHINGTON (AlArabiya.net, Agencies)
U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday that Iran's nuclear program remained a threat to peace and the United States would not allow Tehran to develop an atomic weapon.
The West has offered Iran diplomatic and economic incentives to suspend uranium enrichment and to support a civilian nuclear power program, Bush said in a speech released by the White House.
"While Iran has not accepted these offers, we have made our bottom line clear: For the safety of our people and the peace of the world, America will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon," Bush, who leaves office January 20, said in prepared remarks.
" There are still serious challenges facing the Middle East. Iran and Syria continue to sponsor terror, Iran's uranium enrichment remains a major threat to peace, and many in the region still live under oppression, " U.S. President Gerorge W. Bush He accused Iran and Syria of supporting terrorism, expressed frustration with the pace of democratic reforms in the Middle East, called the Iraq war "longer and more costly than expected" and said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict remained "the most vexing problem in the region."
"Despite these frustrations and disappointments, the Middle East in 2008 is a freer, more hopeful and more promising place than it was in 2001," said the U.S. president.
He pointed to Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution" against Syrian sway, Libya's decision to halt its quest for nuclear weapons, Iraq's fledgling democracy, and prosperity in places like the United Arab Emirates.
"There is now greater international consensus than at any point in recent memory" on the need to build an independent Palestinian state living side by side at peace with Israel, he said.
"The regime in Iran is facing greater pressure from the international community than ever before. Terrorist organizations like al-Qaeda have failed decisively in their attempts to take over nations, and they are increasingly facing ideological rejection in the Arab world," he said.
But "there are still serious challenges facing the Middle East. Iran and Syria continue to sponsor terror, Iran's uranium enrichment remains a major threat to peace, and many in the region still live under oppression," he said.
Tehran has long defied U.N. demands to halt uranium enrichment, and it is under sanctions targeting individuals and institutions involved in its nuclear project.
Uranium enrichment lies at the centre of fears about Iran's nuclear ambitions because the process can be used to make the fissile core of an atom bomb.
Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, insists that it only wants to enrich uranium to make nuclear fuel to meet the growing energy demands of its population.
Tehran has not responded to a proposal by world powers offering incentives including help with peaceful nuclear technology and a light water reactor in return for suspending enrichment. |
