Bush says plenty of U.S. diplomacy ahead on Iran
BERLIN, May 7 (Reuters) American efforts to get agreement from Russia and China on a joint strategy to curb Iran's nuclear programme have only just begun, President George W Bush has told German television.
Bush has refused to rule out military intervention to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but the comments were among his strongest yet on his preference for a diplomatic solution, even if it takes time.
Bush was asked in an interview by the public television station ARD how the United States could win the backing of Russia and China for sanctions.
''At the moment this looks difficult,'' he replied.
''But we have time. We are at the start of the diplomatic process, not the end. You have to remember that. We live in a world where everyone wants a quick solution to every problem. I'd like that too, but the world doesn't work that way.'' Britain and France have put together a draft U.N. Security Council resolution with U.S. backing that will ask Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium to help support its assertion that is not trying to develop nuclear weapons.
But Russia and China, the other two veto-carrying members of the council, have raised objections to the draft, which could pave the way for sanctions.
Bush said he believed a diplomatic solution was possible, but that it was crucial to maintain a united front.
''If we want to stand united then there can be no cracks. We need to speak with one voice, otherwise a diplomatic solution won't be possible. We need a strategy,'' Bush said, according to a transcript of the interview, conducted on Thursday and due to be aired later today.
SERIOUS THREAT In a separate interview with the German weekly Bild am Sonntag, however, Bush made clear that he saw Iran under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a major threat to peace.
''When he says that he wants to destroy Israel, the world needs to take it seriously,'' Bush said.
''This is a serious threat, aimed at an ally of the United States and Germany. What Ahmadinejad also means is that if he is ready to destroy one country, then he would also be ready to destroy others.
This is a threat that needs to be dealt with.'' Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be ''wiped off the map'', and has referred to the Holocaust, in which 6 million Jews died at the hands of the Nazis, as a myth.
As neither ARD nor Bild could provide English quotes, Bush's comments were translated from the German. Bild said the White House planned to release an authorised English version of its interview tomorrow.
Bush, who met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the White House last week, called her a key partner in the international drive to curb Iran's nuclear programme.
''Chancellor Merkel has been strong so far. It is very important that the Iranians know that Germany is working with others to send Tehran a clear message,'' he said.
Bush also said he understood Germany's decision not to participate in the Iraq war, which severely strained relations between Washington and Merkel's predecessor Gerhard Schroeder.
''The Germans today simply don't like war -- regardless of where they are on the political spectrum. And I can understand that. There is a generation of people whose lives were thrown into complete disarray by a horrible war.'' Reuters SB DB2121