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 News from Around the Americas | February 2005 
Bush Says Talk of Attacking Iran Ridiculous
 Reuters
 Brussels - President Bush said on Tuesday the idea that he was preparing to bomb Iran was "ridiculous" but he failed to satisfy European calls to offer Tehran incentives to curtail its nuclear program.
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous," Bush told a news conference after talks with European Union leaders.
"Having said that, all options are on the table," he added, drawing laughter at a clear reference to military action.
Bush gave verbal support to efforts by Britain, France and Germany to negotiate a deal under which Iran would abandon uranium enrichment that could be used to make a bomb in return for trade benefits and security guarantees.
Both sides stressed they shared the same determination to prevent Tehran acquiring a nuclear weapon. Iran has insisted it will never abandon its right to nuclear technology including uranium enrichment but denies it seeks atomic weapons.
Bush did not respond to a call by French President Jacques Chirac to stop blocking Tehran's candidacy for the World Trade Organization or let it have civil aircraft engines.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told an EU-U.S. summit the three European powers were considering selling the Iranians an Airbus airliner as a sweetener to keep them at the table, with the prospect of more planes if they accepted a deal.
He urged the United States to approve "intermediate steps" to make negotiating worthwhile for Iran, which has suspended disputed uranium enrichment activities during the talks.
Schroeder also argued that Russia and China would only back eventual sanctions against Tehran in the U.N. Security Council if they were convinced the path of negotiations had first been exhausted, participants said.
"The Ayatollahs"
Bush called the EU3 "great interlocutors on behalf of the position we share" but he made clear he was skeptical about the intentions of what he called "the ayatollahs," referring to Iran's Shi'ite Muslim religious leaders.
"It's in our interest for them not to have a nuclear weapon."
"It's also in our interest for them not to continue funding terrorist organizations like Hizbollah, which has the desire to stop the Middle East peace process from going forward," he said in a reference to the Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group.
It was the first time Bush had mentioned Hizbollah by name on his European trip. The United States and Israel are pressing the EU to add the group to its list of outlawed terrorist organizations but the Europeans have balked so far.
Chirac said he had asked Bush in talks on Monday night to help European negotiators by offering incentives of his own.
"It seems to me legitimate to make a gesture in the area of Iran's bid for WTO membership and wish to buy civil aircraft engines," the French leader said.
"I don't see why that shouldn't be done and I said so to the president of the United States," he added.
Chirac said the EU3 had achieved a positive first step by persuading Iran to suspend enrichment while they negotiate a long-term agreement on trade and nuclear cooperation.
He said Europe and the United States stood united against the spread of nuclear weapons, and the EU3 diplomatic initiative with Tehran was being carried out in "perfect transparency" with Washington and Moscow.
The comments by Chirac and Schroeder were the first indication of the kind of incentives the Europeans wanted to dangle or wanted Washington to offer Tehran.
The civil aircraft engine market is dominated by three large companies, General Electric, Pratt and Whitney and Rolls Royce, two of which are American and the third of which is subject to U.S. pressure over technology transfers. |
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