Friday, January 27 2006 14:37 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: President George W Bush said yesterday (Jan 13,2006)that Iran would be a threat to the world if it had a nuclear weapon but that he wanted a diplomatic solution to the crisis with the Islamic Republic.

Speaking after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bush said that the United States and its European allies believed a nuclear armed Iran was 'unacceptable' and that going to the UN Security Council would be the 'logical' next step.

"The reason it's unacceptable is because Iran armed with a nuclear weapon poses a grave threat to the security of the world," Bush told a press conference.

He highlighted how Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for the destruction of Israel. "And that's unacceptable," declared the US leader.

"And the development of a nuclear weapon seems to me would make them a step closer to achieving that objective," he said.

Highlighting the new rapprochement in German-US ties, Merkel said Western countries 'will not be intimidated' by Iran's decision to resume sensitive nuclear research.

Germany, Britain and France have led efforts over the past two years to negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programme, which the European allies and the United States believe is intended to produce a nuclear weapon.

Ahmadinejad said today that Iran will not back down from its nuclear programme, which his country insists is peaceful.

Representatives of the European Union, United States, China and Russia are to hold talks on Iran in London on Monday. They are expected to set a date for a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which could refer the case to the UN Security Council.

Bush made no mention of any possible sanctions and stressed the need to search for a diplomatic solution.

The US president said that he and Merkel 'spent some time talking about the Iranian issue and the desire to solve this issue diplomatically by working together.'

Bush said he would not 'prejudge what the United Nations Security Council should do' and also emphasised the multilateral stance that has also been stressed by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "What we're doing now is beginning to lay out the strategy of what happens in the Security Council. That's what friends do. We consult, we talk, we strategise as to how to achieve an important objective, which is for Iran not to have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Bush said he and Merkel discussed reported opposition to UN Security Council involvement from China's envoy to the United Nations.

"We did talk about the Chinese statement. Our job is to make it clear to all parties that it is in the world's interest that Iran not have a nuclear weapon, in other words," he said.

"You're going to see a lot of public discussion about this matter. And the Chinese have got an opinion, the Russians have an opinion. We have opinions. Everybody has opinions," he said.