Dear Mr. Leobold:
Thank you for contacting me with your concerns regarding Iran . Certainly, Iran is one of the most serious national security challenges facing our nation today. The Iranian President has made a series of outrageous comments questioning the Holocaust and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map. He has also been the leading spokesperson for Iran 's pursuit of the technology that could potentially allow it to build nuclear weapons. United States policy in this regard must be clear and unequivocal. We cannot and must not permit Iran to build or acquire nuclear weapons. A nuclear Iran would pose a serious threat to Israel and others in the region. It would also pose a significant threat to the United States by combining access to nuclear materials and technology with support for terrorism. The Iranian regime's pro-terrorist, anti-American and anti-Israel rhetoric only underscores the seriousness of the threat we face. While I have long said that we must keep all options on the table, I also believe we should engage with our enemies in order to learn more about them, what their objectives are, where the real power centers are, and what leverage we can bring to bear on them. Because we need our friends and allies to stand with us, I also want to send a message to the rest of the world - should we ever have to take more drastic action - that we have aggressively pursued all diplomatic options . Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and concerns with me. You can be sure that I will continue to follow developments related to Iran with the utmost attention. For more information on this and other issues being discussed before the United States Senate, please visit my website at http://clinton.senate.gov <about:blank>. Sincerely, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
