Could Iran be 'operation next' for Bush administration?

The Bush administration has been flying unmanned surveillance drones over Iran for nearly a year.

The surveillance is conducted to search for evidence of nuclear program-mes and to "detect weaknesses" in the country's air defences, according to the Centre for American Progress in Washington.

"The surveillance has been conducted as the Bush administration sharpens its anti-Iran rhetoric and the US intelligence community searches for information to support US President George Bush's assertion that Tehran is trying to build nuclear weapons."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintains an Iranian invasion is 'not on the menu at this time,' but the conditions are reminiscent of those in the run-up to war with Iraq, when the White House sent the intelligence community scurrying to gather evidence to confirm its suspicions and justify military action.

On the possibility of military strikes in Iran, Bush said he hoped he could 'solve it diplomatically,' but the administration continues to abstain from European talks designed to halt Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Over the weekend, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer became the latest foreign official to urge America "to embrace the EU's diplomatic efforts", but his appeal "appeared to fall on deaf ears."

Democratic Senator Joseph Biden also urged the administration to get involved in the talks, saying failure to do so could result in the need to invade the country.

Other European diplomats have indicated the talks may fail without the "leverage" of US participation.

On Sunday, Iran "rejected a European demand to stop building a heavy-water nuclear reactor", which analysts say is part of its nuclear programme.

The drone story supports assertions made last month by New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh.

Hersh claimed that US forces had for months been carrying out reconnaissance missions in preparation for possible air strikes in Iran.

When questioned about the article during his daily briefing on January 17, Pentagon spokesman Larry DiRita said it was "riddled with errors".

At the time US Secretary of State nominee Condoleezza Rice said it was 'inaccurate,' but neither denied its central premise. Hersh said he was "repeatedly told that the next strategic target was Iran".

When asked during his daily briefing on February 14 about the difference between North Korea and Iran, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said there was a difference.

The writer is a journalist based in Washington