The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has renewed the Bush Administration's diplomatic offensive against Iran.
Four days before leaving on a trip to the Gulf for talks on Iran and other issues, Ms Rice sought to focus world attention on what she called a threat that goes beyond Iran's nuclear plans.
She accused the authorities in Tehran of being the central banker for global terrorism.
Ms Rice said that one of the biggest challenges in the Middle East was the Iranian regime's 'policy of destabilisation of the world's most volatile and vulnerable region'.
Testifying before the Senate Budget Committee in Washington, she accused Tehran of supporting militant groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, as well as Iraqi insurgents.
She reiterated the US assertion that the autocratic clerical regime was 'stomping on the democratic aspirations of its people'.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee was told that the US would ask Congress for €75 million to campaign for democratic reforms in Iran through round-the-clock television and radio broadcasts.
Iran says its nuclear programmes are peaceful and denies it funds terrorist organisations in the region.
