Bush: Iran aiming for nukes, Israel's destruction

U.S. President George Bush, speaking at a Washington press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that Iran was secretly working to acquire nuclear weapons, and warned that Teheran was moving closer to its stated agenda of trying to destroy Israel.

"Iran armed with a nuclear weapon poses a great threat to the security of the world," said Bush.

He added: "Countries such as ours have a great obligation to step up, working together to send a message to the Iranians that their behavior, trying to clandestinely develop a nuclear weapon, or using the guise of a civilian nuclear program to attain a nuclear weapon, is unacceptable."

Bush's speech was carried live on the CNN news network.

He added: "The current president of Iran has announced that the destruction of Israel is an important part of their agenda. That is unacceptable. The development of a nuclear weapon is a step closer to that agenda."

"It is the world's interest that Iran not have a nuclear weapon," said Bush, adding that Iran must not "have capacity to blackmail free societies."

'Germany won't be intimidated by Iran'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Germany "would not be intimidated by a country like Iran."

"To Germany, it is totally unacceptable, what Iran said recently, especially regarding Israel and the Holocaust. It is essential we try to persuade as many countries as we can to join us," she added.

Iranian President Ahmadinejad (Photo: Reuters)  

The American president addressed the medical condition of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, saying: "Both of us care deeply about the health of Ariel Sharon, we wish him the very best."

Bush said that both he and the German chancellor "hope there will be two states living side by side there in peace."

The U.S. president, speaking about the threat of Islamist terrorism, said: "There's still an enemy that wants to do harm to the American people and to freedom. This enemy lurks... The threat is real."