Bush Warns Of World War III If Iran Develops Nuke Weapons

Washington, D.C.(AHN) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday warned that World War III may ensue if Iran is not stopped from developing its own nuclear weapons. Bush issued the warning as Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran on Wednesday to discuss Moscow's proposed solution to the atomic crisis and attend a summit of Caspian Sea states leaders.

In an interview, the U.S. president said people ought to be interested in preventing Iran from learning how to build nuclear weapons if they are interested to avoid World War III. Bush reminded that Iran's leader had declared he wants to destroy Israel, the staunchest ally of the U.S. in the Middle East.

Bush repeated calls for more sanctions against Iran to isolate it and force it to give up building nuclear weapons.

Bush said he is waiting for Putin's clarification of his stance over Iran's nuclear program. Bush said Putin had told him in their previous meeting that the world must ensure that Iran should not be enabled to build a nuclear weapon.

Russia reportedly joined a Caspian Sea states' declaration at the end of their summit in Tehran supporting Iran's nuclear program, which the Islamic state insists is intended to generate electricity and not weapons.

In the declaration, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan also vowed not to let their territories be used as a staging point for a military attack against one of them. The statement was in response to a U.S. threat to attack Iran if it fails to discontinue its nuclear weapons program.

Iran and Western states are currently deadlocked on the issue of Tehran's nuclear program. Talks are ongoing to resolve the crisis.