Visiting US President George W. Bush agreed Wednesday with German Chancellor Angela Merkel to put diplomacy first in solving Iran's controversial nuclear program.
Bush, who is on a two-day visit to Germany after attending the EU-US summit in Slovenia, made the remarks at a joint press conference with Merkel.
US President George W. Bush participates in a joint news conference with Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Schloss Meseberg in Meseberg June 11, 2008. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
"All options are on the table" to deal with Iran's nuclear program, Bush said.
"My first choice is to solve this diplomatically and the best way to solve it diplomatically is to work with our partners," he added.
However, Bush also said that Iranian leaders have made "a bad choice for the Iranian people", and threatened "additional sanctions" if "the Iranians choose to continue to ignore the demands of the free world."
Meanwhile, Merkel said "I very clearly pin my hopes on diplomatic efforts and I believe that diplomatic pressure actually already has taken effect."
The unified global community is an obvious presupposition for diplomatic efforts to be a success, she said.
Merkel did not rule out a further round of sanctions on Iran, but preferred those sanctions be negotiated and "decided at the level of the United Nations Security Council," because "China and Russia obviously make for much greater effectiveness of such sanctions."
