WASHINGTON (Reuters):
UNITED STATES President George W. Bush yesterday called Iran a "grave national security concern", but said he sought a diplomatic way to cap its nuclear goals.
A hardline Iranian cleric told a Friday prayers congregation in Tehran earlier that Bush was using the nuclear issue to further his goal of overthrowing the Islamic Republic.
The U.N. Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, will tackle Iran's case early next week after the U.N. nuclear watchdog sent it a report this week, saying it could not verify that Iran's atomic activities were purely peaceful.
NUCLEAR BOMBS
Bush said U.S. concerns were the result of Iran's stated desire to destroy Israel and Washington's belief that Tehran wants to build nuclear bombs something the Iranians deny.
"You begin to see an issue of grave national security concern," Bush told a newspaper group.
"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," he said.
