Iraq retreat could ‘embolden Iran’

President George W. Bush warned on Tuesday that a US retreat from Iraq could embolden Iran to develop atomic weapons and trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

His comments came just hours after Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran’s president, said his country was poised to fill the “power vacuum” being created by the US’s waning influence in the region.

Mr Bush accused Tehran of destabilising Iraq and Afghanistan and threatening the Middle East with the “shadow of a nuclear holocaust”. “We will confront this danger before it is too late,” he said.

It would be a “disaster” if the “forces of radicalism and extremism”, including Iran, succeeded in driving the US out of Iraq, Mr Bush said.

“The region would be dramatically transformed in a way that could imperil the civilised world,” he said. “Iran could conclude that we were weak and could not stop them from gaining nuclear weapons. And once Iran had nuclear weapons, it would set off a nuclear arms race in the region.”

Mr Bush also said he had authorised US commanders in Iraq to “confront Tehran’s murderous activities”. Early on Wednesday, US troops in Iraq released seven Iranians hours after taking them away from a central Baghdad hotel, an Iranian Embassy official told the Associated Press. The diplomat said the seven Iranians included an embassy staffer and six members of a delegation from Iran’s Electricity Ministry. US forces declined to comment on the report.

Mr Bush is preparing for a showdown with Congress over Iraq when he delivers a progress report on the war next month.

It was the president’s second speech in a week about the dangers of a US retreat from Iraq, indicating that the White House was determined to resist pressure to start withdrawing troops.

“Leaders in Washington need to look for ways to help our Iraqi allies succeed, not for excuses to abandon them,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad said US influence in Iraq was “collapsing rapidly”. “Soon, we will see a huge power vacuum in the region,” he said. “With the help of neighbours and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, we are ready to fill up this vacuum to the benefit of regional nations and Iraq.”

Mr Ahmadi-Nejad’s proposal for co-operation with Saudi Arabia appeared as an attempt to ease anxiety in the region about Tehran’s growing influence.