Cheney Amps Up Rhetoric Against Iran

Cheney threatened "serious consequences" today if Iran doesn't drop its nuclear program, Reuters reports. "Our country and the entire international community cannot stand by as a terror-supporting state fulfills its most aggressive ambitions," he told the audience at a think-tank forum. One analyst called Cheney's threat "quite significant. That’s very strong words and it does have implications.” 

Cheney's talk at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy comes days after Bush warned that Iran's nuclear armament would cause "World War Three." Other incidents have jacked up tensions lately, including Bush's call for more sanctions on Iran and the resignation of Iran's chief nuclear negotiator. Condoleeza Rice is busy planning Mideast peace talks scheduled for next month, but Cheney spoke of them only in general terms. (More Iran stories.)