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Iran-U.S.: Iran is a problem that must be dealt with: Rice

US Secretary of State Condoleezza RiceAgence France Presse, WASHINGTON – Iran has become a problem for Middle East stability on several fronts that the international community will have to address, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said.

Taking questions after a speech on Iraq to the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday, Rice again took Tehran to task on a range of issues, from its suspected nuclear arms program to its anti-democratic clerical regime.

"I do think that it has to be said, it has to be spoken, that Iran is a problem for a stable and democratising Middle East," she said. "And the international community will have to find a way to deal with that."

The chief US diplomat reiterated US complaints the Iranians were trying to clandestinely interfere in neighbouring Iraq, where Shiite Muslims are in the majority.

She said they were also supporting the Iraqi insurgency as well as backing Islamic militants opposing efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The recent verbal assaults by Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Israel "have, I think, sharpened the contradictions and made clear that this regime is out of step with the international community," Rice said.