By Xinhua
Abu Dhabi : Visiting US President George W. Bush, in a speech delivered here Sunday afternoon, accused Iran of being the world’s “leading state sponsor of terror”.
“Iran is today the world’s leading state sponsor of terror,” Bush said.
The US President accused Iran of supporting Hezbollah, Hamas, Taliban, Al Qaeda and its affiliates as well as extremist Shias in Iraq, defying the United Nations, and destabilizing the region by refusing to be open about its nuclear programme.
“Iran’s actions threaten the security of nations everywhere,” he added.
“The United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late,” Bush said.
Bush earlier met his UAE counterpart Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and discussed bilateral relations and latest developments in the region.
He also expressed the US administration’s desire to boost and expand cooperation and coordination between the two countries.
Bush, who arrived in Abu Dhabi Sunday morning after winding up a visit in Bahrain, is the first sitting US President to visit the UAE.
The US President is on a four-nation tour of the oil-rich Gulf Arab allies. He has already visited Kuwait and Bahrain and is to visit Saudi Arabia in a bid to seek Arab support for his Middle East policy.
Earlier, Bush had wrapped up his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, the first time since he took office in 2000, to advance peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians in the wake of the US-hosted Annapolis peace conference last November.