(www.iranmania.com) вЂ" US President George W Bush said he believed progress was being made in the effort to peacefully resolve the dispute over Iran's nuclear program and direct talks between Washington and Tehran were unlikely to help, Reuters reported.
"If I thought we could achieve success, I would sit down (with the Iranians)," Bush told a news conference. "But I don't think we can achieve success right now."
"I think we are more likely to achieve our goals when others are involved as well," he said.
The United States has been working with European allies to curb Iran's program of nuclear enrichment, which they say is aimed at producing nuclear weapons but Tehran insists is only for nuclear energy, reports Trend.
The United Nations last year imposed sanctions on the transfer of sensitive nuclear material and know-how to Iran and told it to suspend enrichment. Iran has refused, risking further penalties.
"I want to make sure that in the Iranian issue that the whole world stays engaged because I believe that is a more effective way of convincing the Iranians to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions," Bush told the news conference.
"I believe we are making good progress toward solving this issue peacefully, and we'll continue to try to solve the issue peacefully," he added.