JERUSALEM - US President George W. Bush said Washington would defend its close ally Israel in the event of an Iranian attack, in remarks broadcast on Israeli army radio on Sunday. “Whether there’s an imminent attack coming, I don’t think so,” Bush said in excerpts of an interview with an Israeli television station to be aired in its entirety later in the day.“If Iran did strike Israel... We will defend our ally, no ands, ifs or buts,” he said.
Israel considers the Islamic republic its main regional threat in the wake of President Mahmoud AhmadinejadÂ’s repeated statements for it to be wiped off the map. Israel along with the US suspects that TeheranÂ’s nuclear programme is a cover for developing atomic weapons, a charge Iran has denied.
“If I were an Israeli, I would take the words of the Iranian president seriously, and as president of the United States I take them seriously,” Bush said.