Bush says Iran threat to world security
Matt Spetalnick
Reuters North American News Service
Jan 13, 2008 10:03 EST
ABU DHABI, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Sunday that Iran was threatening security around the world by backing "extremists" and urged its Gulf Arab allies to "confront this danger before it is too late".
Speaking in Abu Dhabi, the third stop of his tour of Arab allies, Bush said that Shi'ite Muslim Iran was the world's number one sponsor of terrorism and accused it of undermining peace by supporting the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon, Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Shi'ite militants in Iraq.
"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere. So the United States is strengthening our longstanding security commitments with our friends in the Gulf and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late," he said in his keynote speech which, with the auditorium two-thirds full, received only polite applause at the end.
"Iran is today the world's leading state sponsor of terror. It sends hundreds of millions of dollars to extremists around the world while its own people face repression and economic hardship at home."
Returning to familiar themes that have been at the core of Bush's approach during seven years in the White House, the president praised democratisation efforts in the Arab world, but acknowledged "some setbacks". He did not name any country but cited arrests of political opponents.
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