Iran on Wednesday criticized U.S. President George W. Bush's latest remarks urging the Iranian leadership to "make a different choice" in its nuclear issue.

In a statement sent to Xinhua, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that the United States "tries to create a negative atmosphere against us in order to achieve its illegitimate goals."

"The repetitive and baseless remarks of Mr. Bush have no other purpose but to divert the world's consciousness from the facts concerning Iran's peaceful nuclear program and put his allies under pressure," he added.

On Tuesday, in a speech on the war against terrorism, Bush vowed not to allow Iran to get nuclear weapons and urged the Iranian leadership to "make a different choice."

"I am not going to allow this to happen. And no future American president can allow it, either," the U.S. president said.

"Their choice is increasingly isolating the great Iranian nation from the international community. It is time for Iran's leader to make a different choice," Bush said.

The United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear programs. Iran has said that its nuclear programs are for peaceful purposes only.

The United States is now seeking to impose sanctions on Iran for its refusal to comply with a UN Security Council resolution demanding a suspension of its uranium enrichment.

The UN Security Council adopted the resolution in late July urging Tehran to suspend by Aug. 31 all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development, or face prospect of sanctions.

Last Thursday, the IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei presented a report to the Security Council, saying "Iran has continued enriching uranium despite a UN nuclear deadline for it to suspend or face possible sanctions."

Source: Xinhua