US Defence chief warns Iran on nuclear program

WASHINGTON: US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta on Tuesday vowed that the United States would take military action to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon if diplomacy fails.

"Military action is the last alternative when all else fails," he told the annual policy conference of the biggest US pro-Israel lobbying group. "But make no mistake, when all else fails, we will act."

Just before Panetta spoke, three Republicans seeking their party's nomination to run against President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 election seemed to try to outbid each other in their own show of support for the Jewish state at the same conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.