Mideast peace effort must endure, Rice says

Less optimistic about framing a deal this year

(SUSAN WALSH/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Mideast peace effort begun by President Bush must carry over to his successor, a note of caution yesterday amid a dire political crisis in Israel.

The top US diplomat also accused Iran of continuing a covert nuclear weapons program, although a US intelligence assessment has said Tehran quit its active warhead program years ago. Rice defended the Bush administration's carrot-and-stick approach to Iran and indirectly criticized Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for his willingness to talk to the clerical regime.

Rice said there is still a chance to frame a deal between Israel and the Palestinians this year, although she said the goal is admittedly ambitious.

"The goal itself, though, will endure beyond the current US leadership," Rice told a jammed ballroom at the annual meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. "I believe that the administration's approach to this problem will and must endure."

A more immediate concern involves the Israeli leadership, not the American. There was no mention of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's legal troubles, bribery charges, which threaten to bring down his government or force his own party to replace him. Olmert was in Washington as Rice spoke, and he was to address the same convention later yesterday.

Rice did not say how detailed she thinks any agreement could be, which suggests she shares widespread pessimism for much beyond an outline of a future deal this year.

"The present opportunity is not perfect by any means, but it's better than any other in several years and we need to seize it," Rice said.

She drew repeated applause for tough language on Iran, which Israeli leaders consider their greatest enemy. Iran's hard-line president, Mahmoud Ahamadinejad, regularly says Israel must be wiped off the map.

Rice scoffed at Iran's claim that its nuclear program is intended to produce only electricity. She questioned why Iran would keep inspectors away from some sites, reject a generous offer of civilian nuclear help from Russia, or maintain part of its program under military control.

Later, she directly accused Iran of pursuing weapons on the sly. She said there is no point in engaging the regime until it changes its behavior.

"We would be willing to meet with them, but not while they continue to inch closer to a nuclear weapon under the cover of talk," Rice said.

The Bush administration long accused of hiding a bomb program, a view shared by Israel and presumably the rationale for any military attack either country might launch against Iran.

Rice's words were striking because US officials have backed off pointed accusations since the publication in December of a declassified intelligence report that concluded Iran once had an active warhead program but had shelved it in 2003.

The report said US analysts could not say whether Iran still held weapons ambitions, and said the program might be restarted without US knowledge.

Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton are addressing the AIPAC convention on Wednesday, and presumed Republican nominee John McCain spoke Monday. McCain had a get-tough message on Iran, while Obama is expected to tell the group that he would talk to Iranian leaders without preconditions set by the Bush administration.