Hillary Clinton calls Iran a threat to US, Israel
US Senator and presidential candidate speaks at AIPAC dinner in New York, says 'US policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons'
Calling Iran a danger to the US and one of Israel's greatest threats, US Senator and presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said "no option can be taken off the table" when dealing with that nation.
"US policy must be clear and unequivocal: We cannot, we should not, we must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons," the Democrat told a crowd of Israel supporters. "In dealing with this threat ... No option can be taken off the table."
Clinton spoke at a Manhattan dinner held by the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Some 1,700 supporters applauded as she cited her efforts on behalf of the Jewish state and spoke scathingly of Iran's decision to hold a conference last month that questioned whether the Holocaust took place.
"To deny the Holocaust places Iran's leadership in company with the most despicable bigots and historical revisionists," Clinton said, criticizing what she called the Iranian administration's "pro-terrorist, anti-American, anti-Israeli rhetoric."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be "wiped off the map" and its Jews returned to Europe.
Clinton, the front-runner for her party's presidential nomination in 2008, called for dialogue with any enemies of the United States.
"We have to use every tool at our disposal, including diplomatic and economic in addition to the threat of military force," she said.
