ABU DHABI: Sanctions have set back Iran's nuclear program, giving major powers more time to persuade Tehran to change tack, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday. “The most recent analysis is that the sanctions have been working. They have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambition,” Clinton said in Abu Dhabi, where she is on an official visit. “Iran had technological problems that have made it slow down its timetable, so we do see some problems within Iran. But the real question is how do we convince Iran that pursuing nuclear weapons will not make it safer and stronger but just the opposite ... We have time, but not a lot of time.” Clinton, who is in the Gulf seeking to urge Iran's neighbors to step up enforcement of sanctions on Tehran, repeated that it was important to keep the limits in place and blamed Iran for encouraging the “drumbeats” of war around the region to divert attention from its nuclear work. “I'm aware of the drumbeats and I think that those unfortunately are being created for very cynical purposes,” Clinton said, citing what she said were efforts to destabilize Lebanon and sow further discord between Israel and the Palestinians. “I think that there is very little doubt that Iran does not want to see any kind of negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians,” Clinton said. “For its own purposes it wants to keep attention off of what is a big concern for the future which is a nuclear-armed Iran,” Clinton said. “We cannot let that attention get diverted and we cannot let any outside influence cause a conflict in the Mideast which would be disastrous for everyone.” “I'm deeply worried about the efforts to destabilize Lebanon,” Clinton said in Abu Dhabi during the taping of a television talk show when asked by an interviewer about the political crisis in Lebanon and concerns of war. Clinton said the Arab world in particular should act to sharpen enforcement of the sanctions and reject attempts to stoke Mideast tensions. She also said Arab states had a special role to play in helping restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks by promoting a broader Arab-Israeli settlement. “The Arab world needs to make it clear that the Arab peace initiative will be implemented,” Clinton said. Clinton's five-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar is aimed in part at strengthening regional resolve over Iran ahead of a meeting between major powers and Iranian negotiators later this month in Istanbul to further discuss Tehran's atomic program.
