Bush says 'all options' on table regarding Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said that "all options are on the table" with regard to Iran's nuclear program but that Washington is striving to resolve the matter "diplomatically."

"All options are on the table," the US leader told reporters at the White House, but he added: "We want to solve this issue diplomatically, and we're working hard to do so."

Washington is opposed to Iran's nuclear program. US officials believe it masks a nuclear weapons drive, but Tehran insists its program is peaceful.

Bush called for "a united effort with countries who recognize the danger of Iran having a nuclear weapon".

"That's why we are working very closely with countries like France and Germany and Great Britain," the president said.

Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Tuesday that Iran would "cut off the hand of any aggressor", as the Islamic republic's army put on a show of strength at an annual military parade.

Bush, meanwhile, said: "We'll continue to work diplomatically to get this problem solved."

Tehran is under mounting international pressure over its disputed nuclear programme but is refusing to comply with a UN Security Council demand to freeze sensitive uranium enrichment work by April 28.

Iran announced last week that it had enriched uranium for the first time. Enrichment can be extended from making reactor fuel to the production of warheads.