Sydney: US Vice President Dick Cheney said on Saturday that it would be a grave mistake to allow Iran to become a nuclear power.
His comments came after Iran ignored a UN deadline to stop work on enriching uranium and a vow of defiance from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"They have made some fairly inflammatory statements," Cheney said of Iran at a joint conference with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
"They appear to be pursuing the development of nuclear weapons," Cheney said, expressing concern about Iran's "fairly aggressive'' role in the Middle East.
Howard also warned that a sudden withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would only bolster Iran's influence in the region. "That would be a nightmare scenario," he added.
The United States has said it wants to end the nuclear standoff with Iran through diplomatic means, but does not rule out military option.
