TEHRAN - President Bush refused on Tuesday to rule out nuclear strikes against Iran if diplomacy fails to curb the Islamic Republic's atomic ambitions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) listens to defense minister Mostafa Mohammadnajar during the Army Day military parade in Tehran, April 18, 2006. [Reuters]

Iran, which says its nuclear program is purely peaceful, told world powers it would pursue atomic technology, whatever they decided at a meeting held in Moscow on Tuesday.

That meeting ended without any substantial results, a source close to the negotiations told Interfax late on Tuesday.

Iran's defiance of world pressure to halt the program drove oil prices to a record high of $72.64 a barrel, raising fears of a cut in supplies from the world's fourth biggest crude exporter.

Bush said in Washington he would discuss Iran's nuclear activities with China's President Hu Jintao this week and avoided ruling out nuclear retaliation if diplomatic efforts fail.

Asked if options included planning for a nuclear strike, Bush replied: "All options are on the table. We want to solve this issue diplomatically and we're working hard to do so."

Speculation about a U.S. attack has mounted since a report in New Yorker magazine said this month that Washington was mulling the option of using tactical nuclear weapons to knock out Iran's subterranean nuclear sites.

The United States, which accuses Iran of seeking atom bombs, had been expected to push for targeted sanctions against Tehran during the Moscow meeting with the U.N. Security Council's other permanent members -- Britain, France, China and Russia -- plus Germany.

Russia and China oppose sanctions and five of the six states oppose the use of force. The U.S. has left it open as an option.

DEADLINE

Deputy foreign ministers met in Moscow ahead of an end-April deadline for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report on whether Iran is complying with U.N. demands that it halt uranium enrichment.

Page:

1

2

3