World Jun. 11, 2008 - 06:50AM JST ( 9 )

BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia —

U.S. President George W Bush and European leaders warned Iran Tuesday of new sanctions if Tehran refuses to halt a nuclear program the West suspects to be a covert atomic weapons drive.

“Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly dangerous for world peace,” Bush said at a joint press conference after his final U.S.-European Union summit. “Now’s the time for all of us to work together to stop them.”

The U.S. president dismissed talk of divisions between hardline Washington and Europe, which plans a new package of diplomatic and economic incentives if Iran will verifiably halt uranium enrichment.

“We’re on the same page,” he declared.

Bush expressed sympathy with Israeli talk of military action against the Islamic republic if diplomacy failed.

“You’d be a little nervous too if a leader in your neighborhood announced that he’d like to destroy you,” he said, a reference to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s repeated predictions that Israel would be wiped off the map.

But Bush omitted past warnings that he has not ruled out using force.

“Now’s the time for there to be strong diplomacy,” he said, as the EU foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, prepared to travel to Tehran with a new incentives plan.

In an apparent admission that the issue might not be resolved during his presidency, Bush said: “I’ll leave behind a multilateral framework to work this issue.”

But he added: “I’m hopeful we can get it done,” said the U.S. president, who, with just seven months left in his term, played down lasting trans-Atlantic rifts on a range of diplomatic dossiers including climate change.

Bush reiterated his position that any international environmental accord that did not bind major emerging economies such as India and China could not work.

But he surprised his audience when he added: “I think we can actually get an agreement on global climate change during my presidency.”

Bush was speaking on the first full day of a farewell European tour that will take him to Germany, Italy, the Vatican, France and Britain.

His tone was not entirely conciliatory. Bush publicly restated the U.S. position that Turkey ought to become a member of the European Union—a view sharply opposed by Berlin and Paris.

“We strongly believe Turkey ought to be a member of the EU, and we appreciate Turkey’s record of democratic and free market reforms and working to realize its EU aspirations,” Bush said.

On Iran, a joint U.S.-EU statement warned Tehran to freeze uranium enrichment—which can be a key step towards a nuclear weapon—or face “additional measures.” And he pledged trans-Atlantic cooperation to tighten the squeeze on the Islamic republic’s banks.

Tehran rejects Western charges that its nuclear program hides an atomic weapons quest, but is under three rounds of U.N. sanctions for refusing to halt enrichment.

“It’s their choice to make: They can either face isolation or they can have better relations with all of us if they verifiably suspend their enrichment program,” said Bush. “We’ll find new sanctions if need be.”

The half-day summit also took up unrest in Zimbabwe, the future of democracy in Lebanon, the international food crisis, efforts to revive the faltering Middle East peace process, and the change of power in Cuba.

After Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said no one country had the answer to every issue and that there would not always be U.S.-EU harmony, Bush emphasized: “One country can’t solve all problems, I fully agree with that.”

Many observers agree that relations between the United States and Europe Union have improved since the early days of the Iraq war.

Opinion polls do however show that Europeans look forward to the change of U.S. administration, especially if Democratic candidate Barack Obama takes power.

“Make no mistake about it, there will be differences on how to approach different issues, and that’s okay,” said Bush. “Whoever succeeds me as president will understand the importance of the EU.”

Wire reports