Rice won't rule out military actions on Iran

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused yesterday to rule out cross-border US military action against Iran, a day after President Bush pledged in a major speech to "seek out and destroy" Iranian and Syrian networks providing weapons and training to anti-American forces in Iraq.

Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Rice said the United States plans to target the networks inside Iraq, but added, "obviously the president isn't going to rule anything out to protect our troops."

Her comments followed questioning from three senators, including a high-profile Republican, on whether Bush believes he has the authority to conduct military missions in Iran without congressional approval. Rice said she wanted more time to study the question and would answer in writing. The three senators expressed fears that Bush's new initiative might escalate into a wider regional conflict.

Senator Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican, compared the idea of pursuing Iranian networks to the secret 1970 expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia.

"Some of us remember 1970, Madame Secretary, and that was Cambodia, and when our government lied to the American people and said we didn't cross the border going into Cambodia. In fact we did," he said. "So, Madame Secretary, when you set in motion the kind of policy that the president is talking about here, it's very, very dangerous."

In recent weeks, the US government has stepped up accusations that Iran is responsible for American military deaths in Iraq. Yesterday, US-led forces raided an Iranian government building in the northern city of Erbil, arresting six people and confiscating computers. The Pentagon said they were suspected of being closely tied to attacks on US and Iraqi forces.

In late December, a pair of raids on alleged insurgents elsewhere in Iraq resulted in the arrests of two Iranian diplomats, who were later released, and an unknown number of Iranian military officials who remain in custody.

Iraq has normal diplomatic relations with Iran. But the United States accuses Iran of using spies and covert operations to smuggle bomb-making equipment into the country and of bankrolling militants.

Analysts said yesterday's raid and the comments by Bush and Rice reflect a new resolve to crack down on Iraq's troublesome neighbors.

"I think a decision has been made to get a lot tougher," said Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser on Iran now at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"It is sending a message to Iran that, 'We can hurt you, too, in Iraq,' " said Kenneth Katzman, a specialist on Iran and an analyst at the Congressional Research Service. "As part of an overall policy of trying to knock Iran down a peg, there is an effort to show that Iran can be dealt with."

Katzman said that minor cross-border actions had already occurred, including the US bombing of insurgents on the border in Syria, but that he did not think they were part of a larger plan to provoke a full-scale conflict. Earlier this year, The New Yorker reported that the United States has been secretly flying surveillance drones over Iranian territory since 2004.

Bush's tough language on Iran and Syria runs contrary to the advice of the bi partisan Iraq Study Group, which recommended last month that the United States engage the two countries diplomatically.

Tensions between Iran and the United States were already high over US pressure to halt Iran's nuclear-enrichment program. The United States accuses Iran of trying to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains it is doing research for civilian power generation.

Yesterday, Iran's Foreign Ministry summoned the Iraqi and Swiss ambassadors to demand an explanation for the raid. Switzerland represents the United States in Iran because Washington has no diplomatic ties. Iran's state-run news service, Islamic Republic News Agency, said that the raided building was a consulate set up two years ago at the request of the Kurdish provincial government and was under their supervision.

Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council, declined to give details on the Erbil operation but said it was in line with the president's pledge.

"The president made it clear last night that we will not tolerate outside interference in Iraq," he said. "And that's what the Iranians are up to. And if we get information that is actionable that the Iranians are interfering with Iraq, with Iraqis, or in any way going to harm Americans then we're going to take action."

Johndroe, responding to questions from reporters, said the actions would be taken inside Iraq -- not across the border. His comments echoed those earlier in the day by General Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who told reporters the US military can do "the business we need to do inside of Iraq."

But Rice appeared to leave the president's options open. When Delaware Democrat Joseph R. Biden Jr., the committee chairman, asked Rice , "Do you believe the president has the constitutional authority to pursue [those networks] across the border into Iran or Syria," Rice replied that the president's powers were "broad."

"The American people, and I assume the Congress, expect the president to do what is necessary to protect our forces," she said.

Biden told Rice that the 2002 Congressional authorization of the use of force in Iraq did not extend to other countries. After the hearing, he wrote a letter to Bush asking the president whether he believes he has the power to enter Iran without Congressional approval, saying that Rice did not provide a direct answer to the question.

Anne Barnard of the Globe staff contributed to this report.