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PM refuses to rule out US nuclear strike against Iran(Daily Post (Liverpool) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)AMERSEYSIDEMP raised the alarm last night after Tony Blair refused to rule out support for an American nuclear strike against Iran. The prime minister told MPs it was "perfectly sensible" for President Bush to leave all options on the table if Iran failed to halt its suspected nuclear weapons programme. A leading American journalist has claimed those options include the use of a tactical nuclear weapon against deep Iranian bunkers. Top Pentagon generals were attempting to cross off the possibility of using a nuclear "bunker-buster", but the White House had refused, it was reported. Speaking in the Commons, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell asked Mr Blair: "Is there any military option, including nuclear weapons, you would rule out?". In reply, the prime minister insisted: "Nobody is talking about an invasion, or military action against Iran." But he added: "The President of the US is not going to take any option off the table. "That's perfectly sensible, for all the reasons that have been given many times by the President himself." The comments were in sharp contrast to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's description of the idea of a US nuclear strike as "completely nuts". They were immediately condemned by Peter Kilfoyle, Labour MP for Walton, who has tabled a parliamentary motion calling for "restraint" in attempts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. Mr Kilfoyle said: "Like any right-minded person, it dismays me that the prime minister didn't rule out British support for a possible nuclear attack. It's another example of his knee-jerk support for whatever madcap scheme the US administration comes up with." Mr Kilfoyle said he believed reporter Seymour Hersh had "unimpeachable sources". |