Rice says Cheney not pushing for war with Iran

updated 10:32 p.m. ET June 1, 2007

MADRID, Spain - The U.S. is not preparing for war against Iran and Vice President Dick Cheney supports that policy, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says, taking a swipe at a U.N. official who says he is worried about "crazies" who want to start bombing.

"The president of the United States has made very clear what our policy is. That policy is supported by all the members of his Cabinet and by the vice president of the United States," Rice said Friday.

"The president has made clear that we are on a diplomatic course," she said in regard to U.S. opposition to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Rice, in Spain at the close of a European visit, was asked about the comments of the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. Mohamed ElBaradei was quoted by the BBC as warning against the views of "new crazies who say 'let's go and bomb Iran.'"

Ramping up the rhetoric
Cheney is frequently the administration's most hawkish voice on Iran, but Rice said she did not know to whom ElBaradei referred. The United States does not rule out military action but says there is no plan or intention to attack Tehran.

Cheney has not publicly advocated an assault on Iran, but he used the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf last month to warn Tehran that Washington would prevent the Islamic republic from dominating the Middle East.

Also stepping up pressure on Iran was President George W. Bush, who demanded Friday that Iran "immediately and unconditionally" release four Iranian-Americans detained for alleged espionage and provide information about a former FBI agent missing in the country.

"I strongly condemn their detention at the hands of Iranian authorities," Bush said in a written statement.

Rice was clearly annoyed by ElBaradei's remarks, which were part of an interview the International Atomic Energy Agency head gave for a documentary. The remarks were posted Friday on the BBC Web site.

Message to Iran must be clear, Rice says
Rice said the United States is using diplomacy to avoid "getting to a place where we have an unpalatable choice." She described that as a choice "between having to do something on the military side or allowing Iran to have a nuclear weapon. That's a choice that people talk about."

Rice, who has tangled with ElBaradei before, suggested he is giving Iran mixed signals.

"We have a diplomatic choice, but it's only going to succeed if we are absolutely clear with the Iranians — not muddying the message in any way," she said.

Iran is getting the right message from the U.N. Security Council, which has ordered two rounds of sanctions over Iran's nuclear program, and from the world at large, Rice said.

"I expect them to hear it loud and clear from the IAEA, and from its director," she said.

Tehran says it will cooperate with U.N.
Separately, in what could be an attempt to delay the threat of new U.N. sanctions, Iran has pledged to cooperate with the nuclear monitoring agency probing its atomic program, according to an official speaking to The Associated Press.

That would end years of stonewalling by Iran and help the IAEA establish whether Tehran's past nuclear efforts were exclusively peaceful in nature.

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