US President George W. Bush warned Iran on Wednesday that it 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, revealed meanwhile he would hold new talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday in Rome to search for a solution to the atomic standoff.
PHOTO: AP
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," Bush said.
Iranian officials said Putin put forward a proposal to break the deadlock over the Iranian nuclear program during his visit, but gave no further details.
Earlier, Putin and Ahmadinejad shook hands and smiled, as they met for talks in Tehran.
"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 harbor the same concerns that I do," Bush said.
US Representative 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."
Putin also held talks with Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and was quoted by state TV as hoping for a "new page" in Moscow's relations with Iran.
Last week, Putin said after talks in Moscow with French President Nicolas Sarkozy that Russia had no information Iran was trying to make a nuclear bomb.
"I look forward to having him clarify" those [comments], Bush said.
"Because when I visited with him, he [said he] understands that it's in the world's interests to make sure that Iran does not have the capacity to make a nuclear weapon," he said.
Putin 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, Israel said that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would visit Russia yesterday for what one official described as a "last-minute, urgent meeting."
"The two intend to discuss a series of regional issues, including the peace process with the Palestinians, Iran's threat and attempt to acquire nuclear weapons, and developments in the region," Olmert's office said.
Israel is one of the leading campaigners against Iran's nuclear ambitions along with chief ally the US, but is widely regarded as the Middle East's sole -- if undeclared -- nuclear armed state.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese