President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledged Wednesday to work together to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons, but remained at odds over how best to convince Tehran to give up its nuclear aspirations.
Bush and the German leader also vowed to strengthen strained relations over the Iraq war, a theme of Bush’s weeklong trip to Europe.
Bush left Germany late Wednesday for Slovakia and a showdown Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders have exchanged sharp rhetoric in recent days over Bush’s questioning of Putin’s commitment to democracy in Russia. Bush said Wednesday he was concerned about Putin’s limits on press freedoms and other liberties. But the White House and the Kremlin made it clear that the meeting would be cordial.
Bush said he did not want to harm “a close relationship with Vladimir.”
But Iran more than any other issue has dominated Bush’s talks with the Germans, French and British, as the countries seek negotiating tactics to dissuade Tehran from pursuing nuclear weapons. European leaders have been working with the nuclear monitoring arm of the United Nations, but Bush gave no indication if the U.S. would join that effort.
Schroeder urged security and economic assurances in exchange for Tehran’s cooperation.
Bush dismissed the notion of rewarding Iran for allegedly pursuing a nuclear weapons program in violation of its international pledges to spurn such arms.
“They were caught enriching uranium after they signed a treaty saying they wouldn’t enrich uranium,” Bush said. “They have breached a contract with the international community. They’re the party that needs to be held to account, not any of us.”
In Tehran, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Iran would not give up its nuclear program, which it claims is strictly for civilian purposes.
He also said that Bush declared earlier this week that the U.S. had no intention of taking military action against Iran because the American president found no support for it in Europe.
“Americans make irrelevant claims,” Khatami said. “They’ve learned their claims are unacceptable, and for this reason they are taking back their words.”
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Compiled from news services and edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
