Haaretz
Adar 7, 5766
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday
that Iran will not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon and warned "the
United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the
irresponsible conduct of the regime." Cheney said the Iranian government
"continues to defy the world with its nuclear ambitions" and that the
issue may soon go before the UN Security Council.
"The Iranian
regime needs to know that if it stays on its present course, the
international community is prepared to impose meaningful consequences,"
Cheney said in a speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee,
an influential pro-Israel lobbying group.
Cheney also said American
support for Israel is unshakable and that Israeli security is an American
strategic interest.
Addressing the new Hamas-led Palestinian
parliament, Cheney said the Islamic group must abandon terrorism and
dismantle the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure.
Cheney said
that if Hamas desires assistance from the U.S. and the world, the way is
clear: The Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to
exist.
Cheney spoke on the last morning of the AIPAC conference. He
joined every other speaker expressing condemnation of Hamas and support
for Israel.
After addressing AIPAC, Cheney headed to Capital Hill
to assist in pushing through legislation against the Palestinian
Authority.
Conference attendees also heard televised speeches by
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyah, Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz and
Kadima leader Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Cheney spoke as
diplomats at an International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Austria,
were considering whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for
possible sanctions. The United States believes Iran is trying to build
nuclear weapons; Iran says its nuclear program is for generating
electricity.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in
Washington Tuesday to discuss Iran with President George W. Bush and
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Cheney said the United States joins
"other nations in sending that regime a clear message: we will not allow
Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
He denounced Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for calling for Israel's destruction and denying that
the Nazi Holocaust of Jews took place. He said he supports the "the
democratic aspirations of the people of Iran" and said "Iranians have
endured a generation of repression at the hands of a fanatical regime.
That regime is one of the world's primary state sponsor of
terror."