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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned that the rising power of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards poses "a very direct threat to everyone."
Speaking at the start of a Gulf tour, Clinton said "it's time for Iran to be held to account for its activities which do already and can continue to have destabilising effects.
"I fear the rise of the influence and power of the Revolutionary Guard, poses a very direct threat to everyone," Clinton said.
The United States last week imposed a fresh round of sanctions against the Revolutionary Guards and hopes for UN sanctions to target the group blamed for Iran's nuclear programme and alleged support to militants in the region.
"I would like to figure out a way to handle it," she told a conference in Qatar, which lies across the Gulf from Iran.
"Certainly we don't want to be engaging while they're building their bomb," she said.
