Jan 9, 2008 11:13 am US/Pacific
Bush Offers Blunt Warning To Iran
Olmert Says Mideast Peace Is Impossible Without A Halt To Palestinian Attacks
JERUSALEM (CBS News) ―
President George W. Bush Wednesday directed a stern warning toward Iran
over an incident involving a threat by Iranian boats toward U.S. naval
ships in the Persian Gulf.
"All options are on the table to secure our assets" and there will
be serious consequences if Iran provokes another confrontation with
U.S. ships, Mr. Bush told reporters during a press conference with
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.
Mr. Bush said he and Olmert also discussed Iran's nuclear weapons
ambitions along with Sunday's incident when Iranian boats harassed and
provoked three American Navy ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. officials said Iran threatened to explode the vessels, but the
incident ended peacefully.
Mr. Bush, in Jerusalem as part of a week-long trip aimed at pushing
the Israelis and Palestinians toward a peace agreement, said Iran
continues to be a "threat to world peace."
"It was a very dangerous gesture on their part," he said about the
incident at sea. "They know our position and that is there will be
serious consequences if they attack our ships - pure and simple. My
advice to them is don't do it."
Iran on Wednesday
called the video and audio released
by the Pentagon showing Iranian Revolutionary Guards boats confronting
U.S. warships in the Strait of Hormuz "fabricated," an English-language
state-run television station reported.
Mr. Bush found himself challenged by his Israeli allies on a recent
U.S. intelligence report saying Iran halted a nuclear weapons program
in 2003. Tehran's nuclear ambitions are a chief fear in Israel, and the
U.S. report led some in the region - both Israelis and Arab nations
concerned about rising Iranian influence - to doubt the U.S. commitment
to reining Tehran in.
"The fact that they suspended the program was heartening," Mr. Bush
said. "The fact that they had one was discouraging because they could
restart it."
Meanwhile, Olmert said Wednesday that "there will be no peace"
unless attacks are halted from all parts of the Palestinian
territories, including those not controlled by his negotiating partners
in the Palestinian leadership. But he said that both sides "are very
seriously trying to move forward" on a deal.
"Israel does not tolerate and will not tolerate the continuation of
these vicious attacks," Olmert said, after two and a half hours of
talks with President Bush. "We will not hesitate to take all the
necessary measures. There will be no peace unless terror is stopped.
And terror will have to be stopped everywhere."
On the first day of his eight-day Mideast trip aimed at pushing the
Israelis and Palestinians toward an agreement, Mr. Bush declared there
is a "historic moment, a historic opportunity." But he also said: "I'm
under no illusions. This is going to be hard work."
"America cannot dictate the terms of what a state will look like," he added. "We'll help."
Mr. Bush's staff says the timing of the visit, his first ever to
Israel during his presidency, shows his personal commitment to pushing
the peace process forward, CBS News senior White House correspondent Bill Plante reports.
Earlier Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza
killed two Palestinians and wounded four others, a move the Israeli
army said was taken in response to Palestinian militants who had
bombarded the rocket-scarred southern Israeli city of Sderot with
rocket and mortar fire.
Mr. Bush's arrival in Israel came amid ongoing land squabbles and
fears of violence. There's been little headway since he hosted a
splashy Mideast conference in November in Annapolis, which launched the
first major peace talks in seven years.
But Olmert, despite his tough words on terror attacks, spoke optimistically as well.
"Your visit is timely and is very important to encourage the
process that you and Secretary Rice helped start in Annapolis few weeks
ago and that we, both sides I believe are very seriously trying to move
forward with now in order to realize the vision of a two-state
solution," the Israeli leader said.
Mr. Bush said he believes both Olmert and Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas" are determined to make the hard choices necessary."
"Am I nudging them forward? Well, my trip was a pretty significant
nudge because yesterday they had a meeting," he said. And he said he
would step in when and if his involvement is needed. "You know me well
enough to know I'll be more than willing to provide it," Mr. Bush said.
Mr. Bush and his team stepped into a tricky issue - Palestinian
anger about Israeli plans to build new housing in east Jerusalem and
the West Bank. Those areas were captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast
war and are claimed by the Palestinians for their future state.
Of Jewish settlements in the disputed areas, Mr. Bush said simply "They're illegal and they've got to go."
Earlier, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also said that Israeli
construction in Palestinian-claimed east Jerusalem constitutes
settlement activity and is opposed by the U.S. Rice's comments,
published in The Jerusalem Post daily, marked the U.S. administration's
strongest criticism yet of Israeli policies in disputed east Jerusalem.
The Palestinians are expected to put settlements at the top of their
agenda when they meet Mr. Bush on Thursday.
Said Olmert: "We must abide by our commitments and we shall do so."
Mr. Bush also indicated a willingness to address Israel's concerns
with the Palestinians. Israel has demanded that Palestinian forces do
more to rein in militants in the West Bank. Since Olmert and Abbas last
met, two Israelis were killed in the West Bank, and Israeli security
forces say members of Abbas' Fatah movement were responsible.
Mr. Bush said he would tell Abbas that his territory "cannot be a safe haven for terrorists."
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
