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Rice warns Iran that US will defend Israel
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-07-10 16:23 TBILISI, Georgia - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned Iran on Thursday that the United States will not back down in the face of Iranian threats against Israel.
Iranian officials have strongly suggested the country's missile test on Wednesday was itself a warning to Israel not to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Israel has left that option open. "We are sending a message to Iran that we will defend American interests and the interests of our allies," Rice said at the close of a three-day Eastern European trip. Rice noted US efforts to increase its own security presence in the Persian Gulf and the defense capabilities of US allies there. "We take very very strongly our obligations to help our allies defend themselves and no one should be confused about that," she said. Rice tied the latest Iranian missile test and rhetoric to US plans for a future missile shield, which would theoretically protect Eastern Europe from missiles launched from Iran. The system would place radar interceptors in the Czech Republic, a former Soviet satellite, and missiles in Poland. That has drawn protests from Russia, who says that's uncomfortably close. Such a missile defense system "will make it more difficult for Iran to threaten and ... say terrible things, because their missiles won't work," Rice said. |
