Iran 'continues to be central bank of terrorism in Mideast'

Dubai: A senior US diplomat painted a grim picture of the challenges facing the US in the region, but declined to admit that the US image was eroding in the world.

However, Nicholas Burns, US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, stressed that the US would not walk away from the task at hand.

Burns put Iran's nuclear programme as the most worrying issue for the US, its allies in the region and the rest of the world.

He said 192 countries in the UN urged Iran to give up its nuclear programme and accept a peaceful solution, but the defiant regime in Tehran refused all "generous" offers.

"The whole world is supporting the US stand towards Iran, except for Cuba, Venezuela, Belarus and Syria," Burns said.

Burns said the world is convinced that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons.

In addition to its nuclear ambitions, Iran continues to be the central bank of terrorism in the Middle East. Iran appears to be flexing its muscles to be the dominant country with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad exporting his radical philosophy, Burns said.

He said life will be difficult for the Iranian regime if they ignore the demands of the international community.

Burns said: "As I look around the world, I can see a strategic landscape that is in many ways beneficial to the United States and to the goal of peace and stability.

"As we look at the Middle East we are impressed by the enormity of the challenges before us. And I think it is fair to say that for the final two years of President Bush's term in office, the Middle East will be the focus of the administration."

Concerning Iraq, Burns said the US is trying to help the elected government overcome the terrible sectarian war.

"We have a job that is not complete. And we have a job that we can't walk away from and we will not walk away from just because it is difficult. When President Bush gave his speech on January 10, he focused it on the Iraqi issue.

"We have a responsibility and we shall stay to exercise that responsibility. We will try to help the Iraqis to restore basic elements of stability and security of Baghdad, Al Anbar province and other major cities of the country.

"That is our primary job in Iraq. We are trying to quicken the pace of the economic reconstruction. We want Iraq to succeed."

He said: "We hope that the neighbours of Iraq will be more responsible, particularly Iran and Syria, in being agents of unity as opposed to agents of division."

Burns said the tasks in Iraq are really enormous. "These are daunting responsibilities and yet the price of walking away would be even worse.

"The consequences of walking away would be far worse that the challenges of staying.

"So we choose to stay as long as the Iraqi government and the people would wish us to stay - and until we see what we can do to help return Iraq to a state of normalcy and security, perhaps far in the future, but we have to keep our sight on that," Burns said.