Bush, Cheney renew Iran warning to stay out of Iraq

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney issued new warnings to Iran, saying it must keep out of Iraq, but Iraq's foreign minister instead called for the release of five Iranians in US custody in his country.

Bush, in an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," warned Iranian Presiden Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: "If we catch your people inside (Iraq) harming US citizens or Iraqi citizens you know we will deal with them."

Asked if he agreed with US military officers that Iranian agents were killing US troops in Iraq, Bush said: "I think what they're saying ... is that the Iranians are providing equipment that is killing Americans, and therefore, either way its' unacceptable."

Bush's tough line on Iran came as US forces in Iraq held five Iranians who were detained in the north of the country last week, accused of being linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Iran insists the detainees are all consular officials.

Vice President Dick Cheney told Fox News Iran was "fishing in troubled waters" in Iraq by aiding attacks on US forces and backing Shiite militia involved in sectarian violence against minority Sunnis that has pushed the country towards civil war.

Referring to Bush speech last week outlining his new Iraq strategy and warnings to Iraq's neighbors, Cheney said: "I think the message (he) sent clearly is that we do not want (Iran) doing what they can to try to destabilize the situation inside Iraq."

"We think it's very important that they keep their folks at home," Cheney said.

Cheney refused again to rule out military action against Iran due to its support for radical Islamists in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Sunday his government has requested the release of the five Iranians US forces arrested Thursday from an Iranian "interests" office in the city of Arbil.

"We have communicated with the US Embassy and the command of the multinational forces seeking their release if they are found not guilty," Zebari told CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer."

He stressed that Iraq was "not a party" to the investigation of the detainees by US forces, adding that the Iranians were working out of a "liaison office" that had been providing consular services and which Iraq and Kurdish regional authorities for many years had been aware of.

Zebari said Iraq had "recently ... asked the (Iranian) embassy to transfer this entity into the consulate so there would be a formal recognition of their status."

Bush also said his decision to "surge" US forces in Iraq by 21,500 troops was reached after considering other options like "doing nothing" and getting out of Iraq, both of which he ruled out because "we'd have a crisis on our hands in Iraq."

"Failure in Iraq, would empower Iran, which poses a significant threat to world peace," Bush told CBS.

Cheney, the US administration's leading hawk, expanded on the alleged Iranian threat saying it was "multi-dimensional" -- reaching beyond Iraq to menace US-allied moderates by supporting radical Islamist movements in Lebanon, the Palestinian areas and throughout the Middle East.

"They have begun to conduct themselves in ways that have created a great deal of tension throughout the region," he told Fox, adding that allies like Saudi Arabia and Jordan were worried by Iranian support for Islamist radicals and Tehran's suspected efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

"If you look down the road a few years and speculate about the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran, astride the world's supply of oil, able to affect adversely the global economy, prepared to use terrorist organizations and/or their nuclear weapons to threaten their neighbors and others around the world, that's a serious prospect," he said.

"It's important that not happen."

Meanwhile, Bush's national security advisor, Stephen Hadley, refused on Sunday to exclude the possiblity of US troops entering Iran.

Hadley told interviewers in two television appearances that Washington would continue diplomatic efforts through the United Nations to convince Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment program, which the US and others fear is a cover for making nuclear weapons.

But asked if that meant invading Iran over its other activities was off the table, Hadley insisted "I didn't say that."

"What I'm saying is ... this is a problem. It needs to be dealt with. We intend to deal with it by interdicting and disrupting activities in Iraq, sponsored by Iran, that are putting our troops and Iraqis at risk," he said.