Bush calls for action against Iran

Bush Authorizes New Covert Action Against Iran

This evening, ABC’s World News Tonight reported that the “United States has opened a new front in its showdown with Iran.” According to the report, President Bush has directed the CIA to carry out covert operations both inside and outside Iran “aimed directly at weakening the Iranian regime.”

ABC’s investigative correspondent Brian Ross said the CIA’s “non-lethal” program had received “secret presidential approval.” Officials told ABC the CIA plan “takes the place of proposed U.S. military action against Iran, reportedly advocated by Vice President Cheney.” Watch it:

The Blotter has more coverage:

The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the subject, say President Bush has signed a “nonlethal presidential finding” that puts into motion a CIA plan that reportedly includes a coordinated campaign of propaganda, disinformation and manipulation of Iran’s currency and international financial transactions.

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“Vice President Cheney helped to lead the side favoring a military strike,” said former CIA official Riedel, “but I think they have come to the conclusion that a military strike has more downsides than upsides.”

The covert action plan comes as U.S. officials have confirmed Iran had dramatically increased its ability to produce nuclear weapons material, at a pace that experts said would give them the ability to build a nuclear bomb in two years.

Vali Nasr, an Iran expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said “I think everybody in the region knows that there is a proxy war already afoot with the United States supporting anti-Iranian elements in the region as well as opposition groups within Iran. And this covert action is now being escalated by the new U.S. directive, and that can very quickly lead to Iranian retaliation and a cycle of escalation can follow.”

US President George W. Bush questions Iran's place in 'the modern world', calling for a front to take action against the country.

President Bush, under fire for a major economic crisis at home, in his final address to the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday accused Tehran of 'continuing to sponsor terrorism' - without providing any proof.

The Bush administration has long blamed Iran for the violence in Iraq, a country that is under US military occupation. Iran rejects the allegation, saying it only seeks the restoration of security and stability in Iraq.

"A few nations - regimes like Syria and Iran - continue to sponsor terror, yet their numbers are growing fewer and they are growing more isolated from the world," said Bush.

He added that a nation that supports 'terrorism has no place in the modern world', suggesting that the international community should take action against Iran.

Showing no desire for improvement of Tehran-Washington relations, President Bush then raised the issue of the Iranian nuclear program, calling for global support to impose a new round of sanctions against the country. More

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