President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger “before it’s too late,” reported CNN from Abu Dhabi
Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.
“Iran is the world’s leading state sponsor of terror,” Bush said in a speech he delivered about midway through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact — an accord he said whose “time has come.”
“Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere,” Bush said. “So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late.”