By DPA
Prague : Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright does not rule out a war against Iran in the nuclear dispute between Tehran and the international community.
“This last resort can never be given up completely,” the Czech-born Albright who also served as US ambassador to the United Nations, told Prague-based CT1 television.
“First negotiation has to take place, although Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says terrible things,” she insisted.
The 70-year-old described the situation in Iraq as “worse than Vietnam at the time”. Albright also criticized the situation as “the worst legacy” of outgoing US President George W. Bush.
Albright, who was born Marie Korbelova in Prague in 1937, defends the idea of a missile defence system in Central Europe despite resistance from Moscow.
“This project is not directed against Russia,” said Albright, who served as secretary of state during the Clinton administration.
In discussion about the possibility of stationing a US radar in Bohemia, the Czech Republic should rather “remember that the country is a NATO member”, she said, criticizing bilateral negotiations between Prague and Washington.
Albright ruled out the idea put forward by former Czech president Vaclav Havel that she should stand as a presidential candidate in her Czech birthplace. Elections take place in Jan 2008 in Prague.