WASHINGTON, May 11: US President George W. Bush has said that he believes ‘diplomacy’ will work with the Iranians and it is also his ‘first choice’ to resolve the nuclear crisis.

“The first choice and a choice that I think will work with the Iranians is diplomacy,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr Bush’s statement came two days after foreign ministers from the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany failed to agree on a measure to persuade Iran to abandon its nuclear programme.

While the US and its allies are demanding strict UN sanctions against Iran, Russia and China oppose any punitive action.

Also on Wednesday, President Bush gave his first reaction to a lengthy letter he received from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying that the letter did answer the question the world was asking, which is: “When will you get rid of your nuclear programme?”