WASHINGTON, 14 November 2006 — US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert used White House talks yesterday to turn up the heat on Iran over its nuclear program.
Bush, reasserting a central plank of his foreign policy after his party suffered humiliating losses in US elections, called for the “economic isolation” of Tehran if it proceeds with uranium enrichment in defiance of international pressure.
Accusing Iran of “fanaticism and extremism,” Olmert voiced support for US-led efforts to impose UN sanctions on Iran and said Tehran must not be allowed to “cross the technological threshold” to develop a nuclear bomb.
Israel, which is widely believed to be the only country in the Middle East to have atomic weapons, fears that a nuclear Iran would threaten its existence.
“If Iran has a nuclear weapon, it will be incredibly destabilizing and obviously threatening a strong ally,” Bush said after his meeting with Olmert.
Iran has insisted it only wants nuclear know-how for civilian power purposes, but its president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for Israel’s destruction.
Olmert said last month there would be a “price to pay” if Iran rejected every compromise. Tehran warned Sunday its Revolutionary Guards would respond swiftly if attacked.
Olmert, on a visit to Washington to gauge post-election US policy toward the Middle East, insisted yesterday that Israel was not looking for a confrontation with Iran.
“I am not looking for wars,” he said. “I’m looking for the outcome,” he told NBC’s Today Show, referring to international efforts to get Tehran to curb its nuclear program.
