I am very worried, as should the world, about Iran’s desires to have a nuclear weapon and, therefore, will continue to work with the world to send a clear message to the Iranians, the Iranian government, that they will become more isolated [if they continue the current path”>, Bush said at a press conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in Amman, Jordan.
My message to the Iranian people is we have no beef with the Iranian people. We respect their heritage, we respect their history, we respect their traditions. I just have a problem with a government that is isolating its people, denying its people benefits that could be had from engagement with the world, he said.
I told the Prime Minister, we’ll continue to work with the world community to insist that Iran abandon its nuclear weapons programs, he added.
Al-Maliki told reporters that Iraq was after cordial ties with its neighbours, but underlined that external meddling would not be tolerated. We want good relationships with our neighbours; we want complementary relationships with our neighbours to protect the region from tensions. But the main principle underlying all this is the respect of the Iraqi borders and the internal affairs of Iraq, he said.
Bush accused Iran of destabilising Lebanon. I believe the Iranians fear democracy, and that’s why they destabilise Lebanon; that’s why they are worried about the establishment of a Palestinian state, he said.
