Nuclear armed Iran a threat to the world: Bush

Bush said that the United States and its European allies believed a nuclear armed Iran was unacceptable.

President George W Bush said on Friday 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.

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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 said.

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."

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 on Friday that Iran will not back down from its nuclear programme, which his country insists is peaceful.