CRAWFORD, TEXAS — President Bush sought Saturday to reassure skeptical Europeans and critics at home that he remains committed to using diplomacy in dealing with Iran.
With Europeans increasingly concerned that he intends to attack Iran before he leaves office next year, Bush said the United States and its allies would "continue to work together to solve this problem diplomatically."
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 33 words Type of Material: Correction
Bush's term: An article in Sunday's Section A about President Bush's talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Iran said he will leave office next year. Bush's second term ends in January 2009.
He spoke at a news conference on a patch of dried grass outside his office at his ranch here, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at his side after two days of formal meetings and informal conversation.
Discussion of Iran occupied a large part of their time together, White House national security advisor Stephen Hadley said. The Bush administration has been looking for ways to step up pressure on the government of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to back off from its nuclear program, which the Iranians say is intended to develop civilian nuclear power but which the United States contends is aimed at producing weapons.
In pledging to seek a diplomatic solution, Bush repeated many of his recent comments on the issue. But blunt warnings from the administration, accompanied by reminders that no option is off the table, have fueled concerns that the White House is not fully committed to a diplomatic course.
The issue has grown in intensity, particularly in Europe, after the Bush administration applied new sanctions aimed at the Quds Force, a powerful Iranian military unit, and with Bush's suggestion last month that a nuclear-armed Iran could be a tipping point for World War III.
Critics say the administration is following the same path of sanctions and United Nations resolutions that it did before invading Iraq.
In coming weeks, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is expected to report on Iranian violations of nuclear safeguards and its past nuclear activities.
At the same time, the Bush administration is moving toward seeking a third set of sanctions as part of a U.N. Security Council resolution intended to increase the diplomatic and financial pressure on Iran to suspend its enrichment of uranium -- which has civilian applications but is a key step in fueling a nuclear warhead.
Ahmadinejad has said that Iran was operating 3,000 centrifuges in a uranium enrichment program.
