President Bush has again renewed a longstanding threat to attack Iran. On Wednesday, Bush said “all options are on the table” to confront Iran over its nuclear program.

President Bush: “I have always said that all options are on the table, but the first option for the United States is to solve this problem diplomatically. I’ve also made it clear that you can’t solve a problem diplomatically unless
there are other people at the table with you, and that is why we have been pursuing multilateral diplomacy when it comes to convincing the Iranians that the free world is sincere about, you know, insisting that they not have
the technologies necessary to develop a nuclear weapon, and we’re making progress along those lines.”

Critics have accused Bush and other top US politicians of violating the UN Charter barring the threat of force against other states. Bush’s comments come one day after Iran appeared to welcome a new breakthrough in ongoing talks. On Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Iran is seriously considering a new offer from the US and five other countries that he called “constructive.”