Bush warns Iran on nukes

2004-11-21 13:10

Santiago - US President George W Bush sharply warned Iran on Saturday about reports that the Islamic republic has accelerated production of uranium material that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

"This is a very serious matter, the world knows it's a serious matter, and we're working together to solve this matter," he said on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit here.

"It's very important for the Iranian government to hear that we are concerned about their desires, and we're concerned about reports that show that prior to a certain international meeting, they're willing to speed up processing of materials that could lead to a nuclear weapon," Bush said.

Diplomats told AFP on Friday that Iran is producing the uranium feedstuff that could be used to make nuclear weapons, only days before it is due to introduce a promised ban on all such enrichment activities.

It was not clear if this would harm Iran's drive to convince the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) not to send it to the UN Security Council, which could impose punishing sanctions, for what the United States says is a covert nuclear weapons programme.

Later, Bush discussed the issue in a bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin who "is on the same page as far as the goal is concerned," a senior Bush aide said on condition he not be named.

"They both agree that they need to maintain the pressure on Iran and that, clearly, both agree that a nuclear Iran is not in our interests; we need to work to prevent that from happening," the official said.

Asked whether Putin agreed that Iran should not have a civilian nuclear programme, the official replied: "No that's not what we said. It was nuclear weapons."

The US state department had said earlier in Washington that if reports that Iran was making the uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas that is the feed used to make enriched uranium proved to be true, it would further erode Tehran's already shaky credibility on nuclear matters.

- AFP