Bush seeks China, Russia help on Iran
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-09-14 07:13

NEW YORK - US President George W. Bush said that he would try to rally China and Russia this week behind possible UN action to ensure Iran does not get nuclear weapons. AFP reported.

US President George W. Bush (R) is welcomed by United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan (L) at U.N. headquarters in New York September 13, 2005. [Reuters]

"Iran with a nuclear weapon will be incredibly destabilizing. And therefore, we must work together to prevent them from having the wherewithal to develop a nuclear weapon," he said at the White House after meeting Iraq's president.

Bush stopped short of saying that seeking UN sanctions was inevitable, pointing instead to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is set to take up the issue in a September 19 meeting.

He said Washington's ambassador to the IAEA would push for "full disclosure about Iranian intentions" in order for the UN Security Council to "determine the right policy to go forward."

Bush was to meet here Tuesday with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as well as President Hu Jintao of China, which has balked at Washington's push to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.

And he will meet at the White House September 16 with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which has been helping Iran develop a civilian nuclear program that Washington charges is cover for a quest to acquire atomic weapons.

"I will bring the subject up with leaders whom I'll be meeting with today and tomorrow and later on this week. I will be speaking candidly about Iran with Hu Jintao, as well as with President Putin, for example," said Bush.

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