Bush, Germany's Merkel in step on confronting Iran

Tough stance urged on nuclear program

President Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday urged the United Nations to take a firm line in dealing with Iranian officials who have defied international concern over Iran's nuclear program.

After an Oval Office one-on-one session, Bush and Merkel said their nations are in lockstep concerning Iran, something that was not true about Iraq.

"We will certainly not be intimidated by a country such as Iran," said Merkel, on her first White House visit since taking office in November.

Bush said, "It's logical that a country which has rejected diplomatic efforts," led by Germany, France and Great Britain, should be referred to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.

Bush said the two leaders discussed their desire to work together to solve the issue diplomatically. He was prevented from answering a question about potential military action against Iran when Merkel jumped in with a related comment.

"We should not prejudge the strategy in the Security Council," Bush said. "What we're doing now is beginning to lay out the strategy of what happens in the Security Council."

The goal, said Bush, is "for Iran not to have a nuclear weapon."

U.S. and European concerns about the Iranian nuclear program escalated this week when Iran broke U.N. seals on a nuclear enrichment facility, signaling its intent to restart activities it claims are legal. Also this week, German, British and French officials who had been negotiating with Iran said the process had hit a dead end. Iranian officials responded to threats of sanctions by saying they would no longer cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency if the United Nations intervened.

The United States has long has branded Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who last year called for Israel to be "wiped from the map," has vowed not to give "one iota" in response to international concern about the nuclear program that Iran says is for peaceful purposes.

Asked later about the possibility of military action against Iran, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said the administration policy toward Iran has not changed.

"The president has also always said we don't take options off the table, and he's made that very clear," McClellan said, adding, however, "Iran is different from Iraq."

Merkel, speaking through an interpreter, said at an East Room news conference with Bush that the goal is "a genuine consultation process that where we say at one point in time, we actually did everything we could."

Iran, Merkel noted, has "refused every offer we made." It is "absolutely crucial," she added, "for the Iranians to see how serious we are about all of this."