US PRESIDENT George W. Bush has raised the spectre of a "nuclear holocaust" in the Middle East if Israel's arch-enemy Iran gets atomic weapons.
The rhetorical blast came as US soldiers arrested suspected Iranian agents in Iraq.
"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere, and the United States is rallying friends and allies to isolate Iran's regime, to impose economic sanctions," he told the American Legion veterans group yesterday.
"We will confront this danger before it is too late," Mr Bush said. He has pressed for tougher international sanctions and said he hoped for a diplomatic solution but refused to rule out the use of force.
Shortly before Mr Bush spoke, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad scoffed at the notion of a US attack on his country.
He dismissed a warning from his new French counterpart, Nicolas Sarkozy, as a symptom of inexperience.
"There is no . . . possibility of such an attack by the United States," Mr Ahmadinejad told a news conference marked by his characteristic defiance.
"Even if they take such a decision, they cannot implement it," he said.
French President Mr Sarkozy used a keynote foreign policy address this week to say the threat of sanctions coupled with an offer of dialogue was the only way of avoiding a "catastrophic alternative: an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran".
Mr Ahmadinejad said the French President "only recently came to power and wants to find a place for himself in the world.
"He is still inexperienced, meaning that maybe he does not really understand the meaning of his own words."
Tensions between the US and Iran are running high, with the US accusing Iran of providing arms, money and military training to Shiite insurgents in Iraq.
Late yesterday US forces released seven Iranians who were detained in a swoop on a hotel in Baghdad.
The men were seized from one of the main hotels in the capital and led away blindfolded and handcuffed.
The Iranian embassy in the Baghdad said the men were helping rebuild electricity power stations in Iraq.
Washington earlier said the men were linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and were providing support to militants. US soldiers escorted the Iranians to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office.
- AFP
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