US plans to halt Iran by ‘defence umbrella’

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, warned Tehran on Wednesday that Washington may extend a “defence umbrella” over the Middle East to negate any advantage Iran might seek in developing nuclear weapons. Previously, senior US government officials maintained Iran ultimately would be prevented from building a bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear programme solely for the peaceful generation of electricity.

“We want Iran to calculate what I think is a fair assessment: that if the United States extends a defence umbrella over the region, if we do even more to support the military capacity of those in the Gulf, it’s unlikely Iran will be any stronger or safer, because they won’t be able to intimidate and dominate, as they apparently believe they can, once they have a nuclear weapon.”

“Gulf leaders are very worried about Iran’s nuclear programme –it’s their top priority at the moment, even more than the Israeli-Palestinian question. Of course, these countries will also end up financing any defence umbrella.”