In an interview with the U.S. television station CBS, Bush said, The Free World cannot allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, not just the United States, but those of us who value freedom, and that is why our strategy is to present and hold together a united front to say to the Iranians your designs to have a nuclear weapon or your desire to have the capability of making a nuclear weapon is unacceptable.
The U.S. President explained that his message to the Iranian people was that the U.S. wanted them to be free. We would like you to be able to express yourselves in the market in the open, without fear of reprisal. We want you to be able to vote and elect.
Bush said that his message to the Iranian government on the other hand was that if it wanted to be part of the international community it had to first of all give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.
He described Irans religious theocracy as a non-transparent government.
Bush rejected the notion that U.S. forces were tied up in neighbouring Iraq to the extent that they were unable to launch an attack on other countries. I would disagree with that. I think we’ve got plenty of capability, but the first option, of course, is to solve this problem diplomatically, and that’s where we are working to do.
Bush will make his annual State of the Union speech on Tuesday.
