BRUSSELS, Feb 18 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush does not rule out military action against Iran but prefers a diplomatic solution, he said Friday in an interview with Belgian television.
"You never want a president to say never. But military action is... never the president's first choice," he said, adding: "Diplomacy is always the president's first choice, at least my first choice."
Iran's alleged attempts to build nuclear weapons are expected to be a key topic when Bush meets European leaders here during EU-US and NATO leaders' summits on Tuesday.
Britain, France and Germany have been spearheading diplomatic efforts to get Iran to abandon processes which could be used to make nuclear weapons, while top US officials have brandished the threat of force if diplomacy fails.
Bush insisted that the United States and its European partners had a "common mission".
"We have a common goal Iran should not have a nuclear weapon, that's what we have said, America's said, the Brits have said, the French have said, the Germans have said when they send their foreign ministers in to talk with the Iranians," he said.
"There's a common mission. And I look forward to kinda making sure that we speak in a lone voice," he added.
02/18/2005 18:57 GMT - AFP