The White House has refused to rule out the use of military force to put pressure on Iran to suspend its nuclear programme. Robert Gibbs, a White House spokesman, said Barack Obama, the new US president, was keeping open “all his options” in dealing with Tehran, despite signalling that he was prepared to engage in direct diplomacy. “The president hasn’t changed his viewpoint that he should preserve all his options,” Gibbs said on Thursday in response to a question about the use of force against Iran.
