United States:The White House has played down French president Jacques Chirac's statement that a nuclear-armed Iran would not be very dangerous and repeated that Tehran must suspend its uranium enrichment programme.
"The fact is our position on Iran is clear: they shouldn't have any nuclear weapon and furthermore they ought to take steps to suspend uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities. That is not only the stated position of the United States but also its allies, including France, in terms of dealing with the Iranians," a White House spokesman said.
The Bush administration has said it will not strike inside Iran over alleged Iranian actions in Iraq but it has left open the possibility of such an attack for other reasons, including Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
The administration claims that Iranian operatives are helping Iraqi insurgents and supplying roadside bombs that have killed American soldiers and has authorised US forces to capture or kill such agents.
President George Bush told the Wall Street Journal that, by warning Iran that their alleged military operatives inside Iraq would be "dealt with", he was not seeking to escalate the conflict with Tehran.
"The answer is that we can solve this peacefully and we're going to need other partners to help us solve it peacefully," he said.
Undersecretary of state Nicholas Burns, the senior US diplomat responsible for policy towards Iran, said that any military action against Iranian personnel linked to Iraqi insurgents would take place within Iraq's borders.
"We've been very clear we don't intend to cross the border into Iran, we don't intend to strike into Iran, in terms of what we are doing in Iraq," he told National Public Radio.
When asked if all options might be on the table with other issues, like Iran's nuclear programme, Mr Burns replied: "Well, that's been American policy for many, many years. In fact, that predates the Bush administration."
Mr Burns dismissed fears that, by raising the level of armed forces in the region and intensifying its rhetoric against Iran, the US was making a military conflict more likely.
"I don't believe that a military conflict with Iran is inevitable. I think that if we're patient and we're skilful, we can have a diplomatic solution to these problems. We are trying for that diplomatic solution. But it's not reasonable to suggest that because the United States has put carrier battle groups into the Gulf, we are being provocative . . . We're simply trying to protect our interests in Iraq, the security of the Gulf Arab states and of the wider Middle East," he said.
The administration has promised to publish evidence that Iranians are operating inside Iraq and providing insurgents with weapons. Mr Burns declined to confirm US media reports that Iran may have been involved in a recent incident near the city of Kerbala, where insurgents in US military uniforms passed a number of checkpoints and killed Americans. "We're looking at all sources . . . but right now it's not possible to say exactly who those people were. But the larger point is this: Iran is seeking a position of dominance in the Middle East. It's very clear. Iran has a regional agenda, which is very much at odds with that of the United States," he said.