Time is of the essence on Iran: Bush

WASHINGTON, Sep 21 (Reuters) US President George W Bush said it was crucial that Western powers keep up the pressure on Tehran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program and not allow Iran to drag out talks indefinitely.

''Time is of the essence,'' Bush said in an interview with CNN.

''I'm concerned that Iran is trying to stall, and to try to buy time, and therefore it seems like a smart policy is to push this issue along as hard as we can and we are.'' Ahmadinejad, who spoke on Tuesday at the United Nations hours after a speech by Bush, accused Washington of trying to deny Iran the right to peaceful nuclear power that Western states enjoyed.

White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters that Bush did not watch the Iranian leader's speech and would not engage with Iran until it has suspended its enrichment program.

Snow, referring to a package of incentives offered to Iran by major powers if it halts enrichment, said ''there are a whole variety of benefits we want to make available to them. But we're not going to engage on specific points of his (Ahmadinejad's) speech.'' The West suspects Tehran is seeking to develop an atomic bomb, while Iran says it is using its nuclear programme for peaceful purposes of developing electricity.

Bush said in the CNN interview that Iran has a choice: ''The country can face isolation. They could face, you know, sanctions, or they can choose a better course.'' The US president also expressed concern about Ahmadinejad's stated desire to see Israel wiped off the map and said he took the Iranian leader at his word.

''My judgement is you've to take everybody's word seriously in this world. You can't just hope for the best,'' Bush said.

REUTERS DKS BST0432