U.S. President George W. Bush said on Friday that "Iran's desire to have a nuclear weapon is dangerous" and that the Islamic republic's "intransigence is unacceptable."

Bush made the remarks at the White House after a report by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said Tehran had ignored a UN Security Council call to suspend all nuclear fuel enrichment and had accelerated the program.

Bush called the IAEA report an "important statement" because it "should remind the Iranians that the world is united and concerned about their desire to have not only a nuclear weapon, but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon; all of which we're working hard to convince them not to try to achieve."

Speaking to reporters, Bush, who has never in the past ruled out military options, also reiterated his call to solve Iran's nuclear issue through diplomatic means.

"The diplomatic options are just beginning," Bush said, noting that his administration had worked closely with Britain, France and Germany and that consultations would be pursued when German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits Washington next week.

The U.S. and some European countries have accused Iran of using its nuclear energy program to camouflage an covert effort to develop nuclear weapons. Iran says its program is exclusively aimed at electric power generation.

Source: Xinhua