ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton lobbied Arab governments Monday to help tighten the screws on their Iranian neighbors, saying that sanctions and other measures are hurting Tehran and undermining its ability to acquire components for its nuclear program.
Clinton, in the Middle East for four days of talks, also pushed oil-rich Persian Gulf states to do more to back fragile governments in the West Bank and Iraq to create stability in a region that has so frequently veered into war.
The top U.S. diplomat expressed solidarity with Arabs in battling against domestic extremists, citing Saturday’s attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., as an example of extremist-inspired violence in the United States.
“That is not who you are, and that is not who we are,” Clinton said in a TV talk show in which she took questions from audience members. “We have to make clear that this does not represent either Arabs or Americans.”
Repeating a theme she has sounded frequently in trips to the region, Clinton warned that a nuclear-armed Iran would trigger an “extremely dangerous” arms race, and she said Arabs should show common cause with Western powers by helping enforce economic sanctions. She said current sanctions already were having a significant effect, echoing claims made by other administration officials in testimony in recent weeks.
Clinton made her public comments on the set of a popular women’s television show, “Soft Talk” — the United Arab Emirates’ equivalent of “The View” — where she chatted with the hosts on subjects ranging from her political career to her husband’s saxophone playing.
In Iran
