Cheney puts Iran at top potential-trouble list
WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney, in an interview hours before he and President Bush were sworn in for a second term, said Iran now tops the list of the world’s potential trouble spots.
Iran is pursuing “a fairly robust new nuclear program” and “is a noted sponsor of terror,” he said in an interview Thursday with radio host Don Imus.
“You look around the world at potential trouble spots, Iran is right at the top of the list,” the vice president said.
Another concern, Cheney said, is the possibility of Israel making an initial military move if it became convinced Iran had significant nuclear capability.
“Given the fact that Iran has a stated policy that their objective is the destruction of Israel, the Israelis might well decide to act first, and let the rest of the world worry about cleaning up the diplomatic mess afterwards,” said Cheney, who appeared on the show with his wife, Lynne.
The Bush administration might seek U.N. sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program if necessary, Cheney said. The administration prefers to address the problem with diplomacy and doesn’t want more war in the Middle East, he said.
On Monday, Bush reaffirmed his support for a diplomatic settlement of Iran’s nuclear program but said, “I will never take any option off the table.”
During her Senate confirmation hearings this week, Secretary of State-designate Condoleezza Rice named Iran as one of six “outposts of tyranny” that would require close U.S. attention.
Iran repeatedly has denied allegations of a secret nuclear weapons programs, saying its nuclear activities are for peaceful energy purposes.
In the Inauguration Day interview, Cheney also said he overestimated the pace of Iraq’s recovery from the U.S.-led invasion.
Asked to name his mistakes in planning the war in Iraq, Cheney said he had not anticipated how long it would take the Iraqis to begin running their own country. Not until after Saddam was ousted did the United States realize the extent of the Iraqi leader’s brutality in putting down revolt in 1991, Cheney said.