Washington - Xinhua
Republican Presidential hopefuls on Tuesday evening supported putting more pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear program, but tread cautiously on whether to help if Israel decides to bomb Iran.Out of the eight GOP candidates debating Tuesday night in Washington D.C. on national security, only businessman Hermain Cain said he would help Israel should he find its plan poised to succeed, if he is President of the United States.The other candidates, including front runner Mitt Romney, all said they would support crippling sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear program, and blasted President Barack Obama on his approach toward Iran, but they mostly side-stepped the question on whether to help Israel bomb Iran.Rick Perry, the Texas Governor, said the United States needed to sanction Iranian central bank to stop its nuclear program, but he would exhaust other means before using force on the country.Newt Gingrich, former House of Representatives Speaker who is enjoying a surge in polls recently, said the United States needed to develop its own energy programs and decrease dependence on Middle-East oil, while defeating the Iranian regime with \"minimum force.\"Ron Paul, the Texas Representative, held the strongest view against attack on Iran, and said if the Israelis decided to do it, the United States should \"get out of their way.\"\"That\'s their business, they should bear the consequences. they are quite capable of taking care of themselves,\" said Paul.The United States on Monday imposed harsher sanctions on Iran\'s energy sector for the first time to put more pressure on the Islamic republic\'s nuclear program.