The top U.S. military officer, Adm. Mike Mullen, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton kicked off a series of visits throughout the Middle East Sunday, reaching out to the Arab world as the Obama administration pushes for tougher sanctions against Iran and its nuclear ambitions. The missions by top military and diplomatic officials to at least eight nations of the Middle East reflect the latest efforts to find a solution to the Iranian nuclear problem, which has the prospect to destabilize the volatile region with a nuclear arms race among archenemies.
Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Sunday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and later in Tel Aviv with top Israeli military officers. Iran was a "principle topic" of discussion in Egypt, Mullen said afterwards in an interview with McClatchy Newspapers in Cairo. He added that he expects Iran will be the focus of his talks with officials in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also is set to hold meetings in Qatar and Saudi Arabia during her three-day visit to the region. Aides traveling with her have said Iran will lead the agenda. Top State Department deputies will travel in the days ahead to Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt.
In a speech Sunday a the US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, Clinton warned that the evidence was "accumulating" that Iran was pursing nuclear weapons. She also said the ongoing diplomatic press was designed to "figure out a way" to handle Iran's nuclear ambitions peaceably.
As Mullen arrived in Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set out on a three-day visit to Moscow later Sunday. Netanyahu said he was seeking Moscow's support for "crippling sanctions" against Iran.
"I have seen Iran as an incredibly destabilizing country for a considerable amount of time," Mullen said in a press conference in Tel Aviv. "I am still hopeful that diplomacy and sanctions and dialogue will achieve a solution that doesn't result in an outbreak of war and doesn't result in an outcome where Iran achieves nuclear capability."
In his interview with McClatchy, Mullen said: "It's going to take the engagement of a lot of leaders to make sure that doesn't happen."
That never works out well for us Jen Osama Bin Laden was given money and arms to help defeat the Russians in Afghanistan. We were his buddies then. Also Sadam Heisuen also was supported by us to help him defeat Iran.
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Hillarysworld -> All things Hillary -> Hillary Clinton's Middle East tour: It's all about Iran (Christian Science Monitor 2/14/10)