"Guarantees" needed for Iran's nukes: Clinton

United States Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said that Iran should offer "guarantees" to the neighboring countries that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Saudi Arabia totally comprehends the main aim of the pressure posed by the international community on Iran in this regard, the top U.S. diplomat to Al Arabia in a special interview, to be fully aired on Wednesday at 1500 GMT.

Clinton reiterated that Washington urges Tehran to abide by the Security Council resolutions regarding its nuclear program.

She pointed out that she could not predict what would Iran's reaction be towards imposing new sanctions.

Clinton wrapped up a Gulf tour on Tuesday satisfied that Saudi Arabia is tilting toward a U.S.-led drive to impose tough new U.N. sanctions against Iran.

The chief U.S. diplomat's tour of Qatar and Saudi Arabia appeared aimed at isolating Iran from its Gulf neighbors and piling pressure on China to drop its resistance to sanctions targeted in particular at Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

President Barack Obama has launched a wave of high-stakes U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East as Washington seeks to ratchet up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

In strikingly forceful language, Clinton said Iran is turning into a "military dictatorship" bent on acquiring nuclear weapons as the Revolutionary Guard begins "supplanting" the clerical and political leadership in Tehran.

In the Saudi capital Riyadh, Clinton urged the traditional leadership to take back the reins of authority from the Guard, which she says heads the Iranian nuclear and missile programs.


(Translated from Arabic by Abeer Tayel)