Bush breaks up Iran-Iraq love-in
Correspondents in Washington and Tehran | August 11, 2007
US President George W. Bush yesterday told Tehran there would "be a price to pay" for meddling in Iraq and warned Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against cosying up to the leaders of Iran.
Amid what Washington sees as unsettling signs of warming Baghdad-Tehran relations, Mr Bush said he was not surprised at pictures yesterday that showed cordial meetings between Mr Maliki and top Iranian leaders in Tehran, but he said he hoped the Shia leader was delivering a tough message.
"You don't want the picture to be kind of, you know, ducking it out" when on a diplomatic mission, he said, putting up his fists like a boxer.
In Tehran, Iran's leaders told Mr Maliki that US troops must leave Iraq.
Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told Mr Maliki that the presence of US troops was the biggest obstacle to restoring security.
Mr Maliki also met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and national security chief Ali Larijani. Mr Maliki was quoted by Iranian state media as praising Iran's "constructive" role in "fighting terrorism" in Iraq -- a statement Mr Bush moved swiftly to contradict.
"If the signal is that Iran is constructive, I will have to have a heart-to-heart with my friend the Prime Minister because I do not believe they are," Mr Bush said.
"I don't think he, in his heart of hearts, thinks they're constructive either."
But Ayatollah Khamenei said that it was the presence of the US-led forces that was the "biggest misfortune" shadowing Iraq.
"The occupiers claim that if they exit now, Iraq will be destroyed. Whereas if the occupiers leave, all the Iraqi officials will move with full force to solve the people's problems," Ayatollah Khamenei said. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22224905-15084,00.html
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