AP, London, 21 November 2008 (excerpts) – Britain’s foreign policy chief said Friday that Iran continues to pose the most serious threat to the world, warning that Tehran’s suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons risks an arms race across the Middle East.

David Miliband said in a speech that the standoff over Iran’s nuclear program must be quickly resolved.

“In the next year, the most pressing threat to global order … comes from the actions of Iran,” said Miliband, Britain’s foreign secretary. “Its refusal to address the international community’s concerns about its pursuit of nuclear enrichment threatens to spark a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East.”

Miliband said the world’s global powers should do more to pressure Iran to stop enriching uranium, adding: “This issue is not one for the long grass. It requires the world to use economic power to assert the need for order, to avoid having to use military power.”