WASHINGTON — The United States and Russia held to a united stance Tuesday in their joint campaign to corral Iran's nuclear program, as top Bush administration officials led by Vice President Dick Cheney issued new threats against Tehran.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei V. Lavrov met in Washington with President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the president's national security advisor, Stephen J. Hadley. Lavrov squelched reports that Russia had separately offered Iran a compromise that would have allowed it to make at least small amounts of nuclear fuel.
Heightening the tensions over Iran's refusal to back down, Cheney, in some of the strongest administration language yet, said Iran faced "meaningful consequences" unless it changed course.
"For our part, the United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime," Cheney said. "And we join other nations in sending that regime a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon."
His remarks to the Washington policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a strongly pro-Israel lobbying group, are formulaic Washington language that implies the threat of military action.
Asked later about Cheney's remarks, the White House said the administration remained focused on diplomatic options. Rice stopped short of saying the United States would immediately begin demanding international sanctions against Iran.
Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, accused the Bush administration of a "propaganda" effort to scuttle a diplomatic solution.
"Whenever the Americans feel there may be any chance for agreement between Iran, [the International Atomic Energy Agency], Russia or other countries, they try to destroy it," he said on Iran's Islamic Republic News Agency website.
Although it has participated in diplomatic efforts, the Bush administration in recent years frequently has resorted to muscular language both to pressure Iran and to persuade U.S. allies to remain firm in dealing with the country's theocratic regime.
Tuesday's comments suggest the administration's skepticism about the likelihood of successful diplomacy. U.S. officials, however, have acknowledged that they have few military options and poor intelligence.
Issuing a new charge, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld linked Iran to the insurgency in Iraq, saying members of the Revolutionary Guard's Al Quds Division had infiltrated Iraq to perform missions "harmful to the future of Iraq."
