Iran Is World's Leading State Sponsor Of Terror: US President George W Bush

US President George W Bush said on Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."

Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.

"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech he delivered about midway through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact - an accord he said whose "time has come."

"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," Bush said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late."

Bush lauded democratic reforms in Gulf nations ruled by authoritarian leaders. He said the Iranian government in Tehran needs to make itself accountable to its people. And he called on the Palestinians to reject extremists, although he did not mention the Islamic radical group Hamas, which has gained control of the Gaza Strip.

"This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed," Bush said.

Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for US$2,450 (euro1,656) a night. Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes - white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women.

Bush said advancing democracy and freedom is the core of his administration's foreign policy and critical to US security.

"The United States has no desire for territory. We seek our shared security in your liberty. We believe that stability can only come through a free and just Middle East where the extremists are marginalized," the president said.

In renewing his "Freedom Agenda" - Bush's grand ambition to seed democracy around the globe - he declared that "democracy is the only form of government that treats individuals with the dignity and equality that is their right."

"We know from experience that democracy is the only system of government that yields lasting peace and stability," he added.

Yet he was speaking about democracy in a deeply undemocratic country, the Emirates, where royal rulers make virtually all the decisions. Large numbers of foreign resident workers have few legal or human rights, including no right to citizenship and no right to protest working conditions.
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