Overseas, Rice urges unity on Iran

LONDON -- In her diplomatic debut, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a US invasion of Iran was ''not on the agenda at this point" and called on Europe to show ''unity of purpose" with the United States in opposing Iran's suspected nuclear ambitions.

At the start of a seven-day tour of Europe and the Middle East, Rice also expressed a desire to heal the rift in the trans-Atlantic relationship that erupted over the Iraq war. She won a pledge from Germany, which had led opposition to the US invasion, to expand its role in rebuilding Iraq after last Sunday's largely successful election.

European governments have been watching Washington's signals on Iran since President Bush, in his State of the Union address Wednesday night, suggested that if the Iranian people stood up to their leaders, the United States would back them. Britain, France, and Germany have worked intensively for months to encourage Iran to comply with international protocols for its nuclear program and to take measures to alleviate concerns that it may be trying to develop nuclear weapons.

Amid visits yesterday with British and German leaders, Rice sought to play down the possibility that America might attack Iran.

''Diplomacy can work in this case if there is unity of purpose and unity of message to the Iranians that the international community expects them to live up to their obligations," she said in Berlin, where she met with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

An attack ''is simply not on the agenda at this point," Rice said in London, where she held meetings earlier in the day with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

Still, European analysts and commentators said they worried that the United States would adopt a unilateral approach on Iran as part of its desire to reshape the Middle East -- a stance, they said, that could undermine Europe's delicate diplomatic efforts with Iran. The question that hangs over her trip, they said, is whether Iran will be another issue that divides Europe and the United States, or whether it might become an issue that binds the trans-Atlantic relationship around a common goal.

There was a difference in tone between Rice and Straw at their joint news conference at the Foreign Office in London. Rice described Iran as having ''an atrocious human rights record" and being a ''chief funder of terrorism."

Straw used milder language to criticize Iran's rights record. ''While there was some improvement in human rights under [President Mohammad] Khatami, that has now gone back. And there is some concern about that."

Jonathan Stevenson, a senior fellow for counterterrorism at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, an independent think tank, said the harsh tone of Rice's comments on Iran were out of step with the European approach and could affect the diplomatic efforts underway.

''They show that she is very much a George W. Bush proxy and that she will not even lean toward having an independent identity the way Colin Powell did, and not necessarily use the niceties of diplomatic language in doing so," said Stevenson, who focuses his research on Iran.

Rice's comments also angered the Islamic fundamentalist government in Iran, which perceived them as a threat that an attack was being considered.

''A wise man would take any threat as serious; at the same time, we don't want to exchange rhetoric with the Americans," said Mohammed Hossein Adeli, the Iranian ambassador in London.

Most military analysts say a US invasion of Iran is unlikely, not only because diplomatic efforts are underway but also because the US military lacks the resources to launch a second war while it has about 130,000 troops in Iraq.

Because Iran has concealed its nuclear facilities, Stevenson said, ''surgical strikes would be very difficult. To get the job done could require a ground invasion, which again would overstretch the military."

The United States has alleged that Iran may be testing high- explosive components for nuclear weapons. Iran says that its military is not involved in nuclear activities and that its activities are for energy, not weapons.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has not been able to support the US assertions. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei has refused to declare Iran in breach of the nonproliferation treaty, angering US officials who think the country has violated the pact.

On Iraq, Schroeder said he and Rice are ''very much agreed" on the need to stabilize Iraq ''irrespective of what one thought about the military intervention in Iraq."

Germany is training Iraqi police and military personnel in the United Arab Emirates, ''and I have declared the country's readiness to not just continue with these projects, but if desired, to also expand upon them," he said at his office in Berlin.

Schroeder gave no details. Germany, like France, is steadfast in refusing to put its troops in Iraq.

Today, Rice will leave Germany for Poland and Turkey, then move on to Jerusalem for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. She also will visit Russia, Italy, France, and Brussels.

Material from wire services was included in this report.