US backs military action on Tehran

Addressing the UN in New York, the US President said yesterday a nuclear-armed Iran was not a challenge that could be contained and time for diplomacy was running out.

While Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad effectively laughed off the threat of an attack on his nation's soil, Mr Obama said the US "will do what we must" to stop Iran joining the nuclear club.

"Make no mistake, a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained," he said. "It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf states, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear arms race in the region and an unravelling of the non-proliferation treaty."

The President's message upheld an assurance to guarantee the security of Israel by potentially involving the US in a further Middle East war - even if Mr Obama did not go as far as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants.

Mr Netanyahu wants Mr Obama to lift the pressure on Iran by drawing a red line now to mark the end of negotiations and start the clock ticking for a military response to the Islamic regime's lack of co-operation in curtailing enrichment of uranium that could lead to developing a bomb. The main impediment, at this point, appears to be the US election with Mr Obama reluctant to more directly flag another US war just six weeks before he faces voters.

The Israeli Prime Minister's concern is that the longer the wait, the more difficult it will become to frustrate Iran's ambitions as it puts nuclear development facilities deep underground beyond the reach of bunker-busting bombs.

In his speech yesterday, Mr Obama singled out Iran as his key example of where the path of violent and unaccountable ideology leads.

While applauding the Iranian people for a remarkable ancient history and noting many of its citizens wanted peace, he condemned the nation's Islamic government for continuing to "prop up" the murderous regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and to support terrorist groups abroad.

"Time and again, it has failed to take the opportunity to demonstrate that its nuclear program is peaceful, and to meet its nuclear obligations to the United Nations," Mr Obama said.

The US President's speech was not as warmly received as past speeches to the UN or his "Cairo speech" in mid-2009 when he sought to engage the US with the Muslim world.

But he won a generally favourable response in the UN, especially for supporting democratic freedoms and strong rejection of violent extremism and intolerance.

Responding to violent unrest in the Middle East incited by an anti-Islamic video produced in the US, Mr Obama paid tribute to killed American ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens and declared that the quest to bring his murderers to justice would be relentless.

He then pointed out that the attacks of the past fortnight were not just an attack on the US but an assault on UN ideals that people could resolve their differences peacefully.

After the Arab Spring uprisings that spread through North Africa and the Middle East last year, he said recent turmoil was a reminder that the path to democracy did not end with the casting of a ballot. Such a transition was "hard work".

While dismissing the message of the video that had sparked violence as "crude and disgusting" and understanding how people could take offence, he said that banning such a video was not the answer.

"Here in the United States, countless publications provoke offence. Like me, the majority of Americans are Christians, and yet we do not ban blasphemy against our most sacred beliefs.

"As President of our country, and commander-in-chief of our military, I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day - and I will always defend their right to do so."

No speech justified mindless violence, Mr Obama said. He argued the strongest weapon against hateful speech was not repression but more speech, which he described as "the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy, and lift up the values of understanding and mutual respect".

In a separate New York address yesterday to former president Bill Clinton's charity organisation, the Clinton Global Initiative, Mr Obama spoke out against the cruelty of human trafficking. Calling it "modern slavery", he said efforts were being stepped up against child exploitation and forced labour and prostitution.

Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney, also addressing Mr Clinton's charity, called for US foreign aid to be tied to work and free enterprise.

Introduced by the former president, Mr Romney made a self-deprecating joke that referred to the popular Mr Clinton's role in helping to boost Mr Obama's opinion poll ratings at this month's Democratic national convention.

"If there's one thing we've learned this election season, it's that a few words from Bill Clinton can do a man a lot of good," Mr Romney said.

"After that introduction, I guess all I have to do is wait a day or two for the bounce."