Diplomacy begins on Iran: Bush

United Nations: The US will seek a resolution in the UN Security Council urging Iran to halt its nuclear ambitions, the US ambassador said on Friday.

Describing a ‘sense of urgency,’ John Bolton said work on a draft resolution is under way to address Iran's failure to comply with a Security Council demand to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Iran's defiance was confirmed Friday in a report from the UN nuclear watchdog agency.

In its eight-page report to the Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency said it hasn't found evidence of diversion of nuclear materials but it is not in a position to rule out undeclared activity.

President Bush said Friday that diplomatic efforts are "just beginning," adding that the report "should remind us all that the Iranian government's intransigence is not acceptable."

He called the IAEA report a reminder "that the world is united and concerned about their desire to have not only a nuclear weapon, but the capacity to make a nuclear weapon or the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon; all of which we're working hard to convince them not to try to achieve."

Previously, Bush has said no options are off the table, including military action.

The State Department said the report contains nothing new about Iran's nuclear program.

"We viewed this as likely being a pro forma document, and it was. There is nothing here that was unexpected," one senior State Department official said.

The Security Council has asked Iran to stop uranium enrichment but the country has not done so, saying it seeks nuclear power for peaceful purposes.

On March 29 the council asked the IAEA to report back in 30 days on compliance.

The US and other countries contend the work is a guise to hide the country's development of nuclear weapons.

On April 11, Iran declared it had produced enriched uranium in concentrations capable of running a nuclear power plant.

Bush said Friday that he was consulting with allies. "Diplomacy is my first choice and should be the first choice of any president," he added.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said it was "very serious that the Iranian regime has failed fully to co-operate with the IAEA and the United Nations Security Council."

Before the report's release Friday, Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad said no measures will stop Iran from continuing its nuclear program.

"Iran is a nuclear country. This slogan that nuclear energy is our inalienable right is the outcry of the people and a national demand," Ahmadinejad said during a trip to the northwestern Iranian town of Khorramdareh.

"Achieving nuclear technology is today the will of all Iranians, whether they're young, old, man, woman or child. You can hear their voice here supporting the nuclear activities of Iran. Listen!" he said, stirring a crowd of thousands.