Bar Iran from nuclear arms to avoid World War III: Bush

FE Team | Published: October 19, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (AFP): President George W. Bush Wednesday warned Iran must be barred from nuclear weapons to avoid the prospect of "World War III," and dismissed suggestions of a US-Russia rift on the crisis.
Bush intervened hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a new proposal to end the nuclear crisis as he met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for landmark talks in Tehran.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani meanwhile revealed he would hold new talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana Tuesday in Rome to search for a solution to the atomic standoff. Bush upped US rhetoric at a White House news conference, warning the world must do more to isolate the Islamic republic.
"We've got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel," Bush said.
"So I've told people that, if you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
"I'm looking forward to getting President Putin's read-out from the meeting," Bush said.
"The thing I'm interested in is whether or not he continues to harbour the same concerns that I do," Bush added.
Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer slammed Bush for his cataclysmic view about Russia, especially after he described Putin as a good man on their first encounter.
"I keep hoping the president will do the right thing, but he just seems to go down that cowboy path all the time," she told reporters. "I don't think he understands that his words have to be measured and it's quite unfortunate."
"I look forward to having him clarify" those (comments), Bush said.
The Russian president also called during a summit with Caspian leaders for any prospect of foreign military action against Iran to be ruled out.
Washington refuses to renounce the military option, spurring speculation on the chances of a US strike, should diplomacy ultimately break down.
Hours after Putin left Iran, its archfoe Israel announced Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would visit Russia Thursday for what one official described as a "last-minute, urgent meeting."