Bush says Iran grave national security concern

Washington, Mar 10 (Reuters) President George W Bush today called Iran an issue of ''grave national security concern'' and said he wanted a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Bush said U S concerns were the result of Iran's stated desire to destroy Israel and the U S belief that Tehran wants to develop a nuclear weapon. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian power generation.

''Therefore it's very important for the United States to continue to work with others to solve these issues diplomatically, deal with these threats today,'' Bush told a newspaper group.

REUTERS KD HT2238