Bush administration

     Bush administration officials have long refused to rule out any options against Iran but said military action would be a last resort and there was no immediate plan to strike targets in Iran. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that while US forces are trying to prevent Iran and Syria from disrupting US forces in Iraq, there were no immediate plans for an attack: "We believe that we can interrupt these networks that are providing support through actions inside the territory of Iraq, that there is no need to attack targets in Iran itself," Gates told the panel, adding that he continues to believe that "any kind of military action inside Iran itself, that would be a very last resort."Also,Thursday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "We have to base our regional strategy on the substantially changed realities of the Middle East because this is a different Middle East.(09,25)