US presidential candidate urges friendship with Iran

GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul urged Washington to stop hostility towards Iran, arguing that Iran is not a credible threat to the United States.Representative Ron Paul of Texas said yesterday he would use friendship to work with Tehran. With the International Atomic Energy Agency set to release a negative report on Iran this week, the Republican presidential candidate warned against overreaction, insisting that Iran is not a credible threat to the United States. Paul said on "Fox News Sunday "…for them (Iranians) to be a threat to us and to anyone in the region, I think it's blown out of proportion." Paul opposed a bill passed by the House Foreign Affairs Committee last week that would strengthen sanctions against Iran. "When you put on strong sanctions, those are acts of war," Paul said. Asked by host Chris Wallace what his diplomacy would be towards Iran if he opposed the use of sanctions and military force, Paul responded, "maybe offering friendship to them." Paul also blasted the United States' use of drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. "Sometimes they miss, sometimes there's collateral damage. Every time we do that, we're making more enemies," he said. On domestic policy, Paul said that the nation should "wean ourselves off" supporting the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention because scientific research and development should not be done by government because "politicians and bureaucrats are not smart enough to know what you should be invested in."