Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1082 Sun. June 17, 2007  
   
International


US admn debates new Iran strategy


An internal debate is underway in the administration of US President George W Bush on whether the current diplomatic approach toward Iran has any hope of halting the country's nuclear programme, The New York Times reported on its website Friday.

Citing unnamed senior administration officials, the newspaper said the debate has pitted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputies against the few remaining hawks inside the administration, especially those in the office of Vice President Richard Cheney.

Cheney's aides are pressing for greater consideration of military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, the report said.

One year ago, Rice spokes in favour of the United States joining forces with Europe, Russia and China to press Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

But since then, Iran has installed more than a thousand centrifuges to enrich uranium, and the International Atomic Energy Agency predicted that 8,000 or so could be spinning by the end of the year.

Those numbers are at the core of the debate over whether Bush should warn Iran's leaders that he will not allow them to get beyond some yet-undefined milestones, leaving the implication that a military strike on the country's facilities is still an option, the paper said.

Friends and associates of Rice say she has increasingly moved toward the European position that the diplomatic path she has laid out is the only real option for Bush, The Times said.