Bush Gives Speech From Abu Dhabi, Calls Iran Leading Sponsor Of Terrorism

January 13, 2008 · Filed Under Middle East, War on Terror, World News

President Bush gently reminded Arab allies Sunday of the need to satisfy frustrated desires for democracy in the Mideast, but saved his harshest criticism for Iran, branding it “the world’s leading state-sponsor of terror.”

Speaking in the Persian Gulf country, about 150 miles from the shores of Iran, Bush said Tehran threatens nations everywhere and that the United States was “rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late.”

The warning about Iran was much tougher than Bush’s admonition about spreading democracy in the Middle East, which had been billed as the central theme of his speech.

After the speech, President Bush did some site seeing at the desert encampment of Abu Dhabi’s crown prince, Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The crown prince showed Bush his prize collection of Falcons, allowing the President to hold one.

-Chris Jones