Brown says does not rule out any option on Iran

LONDON, Oct 8 (Reuters) British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said today that he would not rule out any option in tackling Iran over its nuclear ambitions, but said he hoped to resolve the dispute through diplomacy.

Brown told a news conference that Iran's determination to pursue nuclear enrichment activities could not go unchallenged and was a ''breach of the non-proliferation treaty''.

''We take very seriously what Iran is proposing and we are prepared to use the methods that we have used and diplomatic sanctions to deal with this,'' he said. ''And I do not rule out anything.'' Iran denies pursuing nuclear arms and says its nuclear programme is aimed at power generation.

REUTERS PD RK1725