Clinton: Iran Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons 'Futile'

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned Iran that any pursuit of a nuclear weapons program is "futile," and said the United States is doing everything in its power to ensure that Tehran does not acquire an atomic bomb. "Your pursuit is futile," Clinton said on the NBC television's "Meet the Press."

"What we want to do is to send a message to whoever is making these decisions, that if you are pursuing nuclear weapons for the purpose of intimidating, of projecting your power, we're not going to let that happen."

Clinton had been asked whether the United States was considering a nuclear umbrella for its Gulf allies, an idea which she raised last week at an Asian security conference - and which stirred fears in Israel that Washington would accept a nuclear armed Iran. "We are not talking in specifics... because that would come later, if at all," she said. "My view is, you hope for the best and you plan for the worst."

The former first lady and opponent of Barack Obama for the Democratic Party's nomination for president last year stressed that "it is unacceptable for Iran to have nuclear weapons," adding that "I think it's clear that we're trying to affect the internal calculus of the Iranian leadership."

Clinton said Sunday that the United States "would hope better for the Iranian people, but stopped short of saying whether or not the government was illegitimate. "That's for the people of Iran to decide," she said. "We have negotiated with many governments who we did not believe represented the will of their people," Clinton said.

Last week Clinton told Thai television in Bangkok that Obama's administration "will still hold the door open" to talks with Tehran over its nuclear program, a message she reiterated Sunday. "There's a lot that we can do with Iran if Iran accepts what is the international consensus," she said Sunday, that Tehran has "a right to pursue a peaceful use of civil nuclear power" but not nuclear weapons.