Bush says Rice won't be rude with Iran

WASHINGTON, April 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be polite but firm if she sees Iranian officials at a Mideast conference this week.

Bush said he hopes Iran Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki would see the U.S. resolve to "rally the world to convince the Iranians to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions."

"Should the foreign minister of Iran bump into Condi Rice, Condi won't be rude. She's not a rude person. I'm sure she'll be polite," Bush said. "But she'll also be firm in reminding this representative of the Iranian government that there's a better way forward for the Iranian people than isolation."

He said he believes Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon would be "a significant threat to world peace."

European Council President Jose Barroso, who was at the White House with Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for a meeting on a wide range of global issues, said the United States and Europe are sending a "very clear message" to Iran. "Proliferation, nuclear proliferation is, indeed a threat, not only to regional stability, but to the global peace and global stability," Barroso said.