Romney 'stands with' Netanyahu on Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP)— White House hopeful Mitt Romney expressed solidarity Thursday with Benjamin Netanyahu after the Israeli leader called for a "red line" on Iran to stop it from reaching nuclear weapons capability.

"I stand with Prime Minister Netanyahu," Romney said in a statement after the Israeli leader told the UN General Assembly that the world needed to stop Tehran from enriching enough uranium for a nuclear bomb.

"I join in Prime Minister Netanyahu's call for a Middle East of progress and peace," said Romney, who has strongly criticized US President Barack Obama for what the Republican challenger describes as failing to curtail Iran's ambition to build a nuclear weapon.

"I join his urgent call to prevent the gravest threat to that vision: a nuclear-armed Iran," Romney said of Netanyahu. "The designs of the Iranian regime are a threat to America, Israel and our friends and allies around the world."

Romney in his statement did not mention the "red line" that Netanyahu called for from the world community, but on Wednesday Romney said Iran's regime "can never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons capability."

While addressing the United Nations, Netanyahu took a marker and literally drew a red line across the 90 percent level of a cartoonish bomb diagram, referring to the 90 percent uranium enrichment needed for a nuclear weapon.

Obama has rejected the idea of such an international red line, but he was unequivocal Tuesday in his own UN address, saying "the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, criticizing "threats by the uncivilized Zionists" to attack Iran.

Romney on Wednesday slammed the remarks as part of "a long list of belligerent and disgusting statements" by Ahmadinejad.