"PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The United States should offer to protect countries in the Middle East from Iran if those countries forgo nuclear weapons of their own, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
Clinton, a senator from New York, and rival Barack Obama, a senator from Illinois, reaffirmed their commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and held out the possibility of military action if Tehran attacked Israel.
Clinton, who has painted herself as stronger on foreign policy issues than Obama, said Washington should bring other Middle Eastern nations in addition to Israel under a security "umbrella" to create a deterrent against an Iranian threat.
"I think that we should be looking to create an umbrella of deterrence that goes much further than just Israel," she said.
"We will let the Iranians know, that, yes, an attack on Israel would trigger massive retaliation, but so would an attack on those countries that are willing to go under the security umbrella and forswear their own nuclear ambitions." '
New tensions between Israel and Iran have offered the U.S. political candidates a new area for debate. It is likely that these debates will offer little constructive advice, but rather an opportunity to badger each other senselessly.
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