Bush: Iran attack 'ridiculous'
2005-02-23 03:54
Brussels - US President George W Bush said on Tuesday that the idea that the
United States was preparing to attack Iran was "ridiculous".
But he reiterated that no options could be ruled out.
"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack
Iran is simply ridiculous.
Having said that, all options are on the
table," he told reporters at the end of a summit with European Union (EU) leaders.
Iran was among the top issues on the agenda during Bush's
back-to-back summits with fellow NATO and EU leaders on his first
trip to Europe since his re-election last November.
Bush voiced support for an ongoing attempt by British, French
and German diplomats to get Tehran to renounce its feared pursuit
of nuclear weapons in return for trade and economic incentives.
'Good advice'
"You know, we've talked about Iran," said Bush, referring to his
two days of discussions in Brussels.
"That's a place where I'm
getting good advice from European partners.
"After all, Great Britain, Germany and France are negotiating
with the ayatollahs with a common objective - and that is for them not to have a nuclear weapon."
"It's in our interests for them not to have a nuclear weapon,"
he said.
"It's also in our interest for them not to continue to fund
terrorist organisations like Hezbollah, which has the desire to
stop the Middle East peace process from going forward," he
continued.
"So these are great interlocateurs on behalf of the position we
share.
"There's an example of concrete (transatlantic) action."
Bush famously identified Iran during his first term in the White
House as part of an "axis of evil" that also included North Korea
and Saddam Hussein's Iraq.