WASHINGTON, Oct 17: President George W. Bush on Wednesday warned Iran must be barred from nuclear weapons to avoid the prospect of “World War III,” and dismissed suggestions of a US-Russia rift on the crisis. Bush intervened hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin made a new proposal to end the nuclear crisis as he met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for landmark talks in Tehran.

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani meanwhile revealed he would hold new talks with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Tuesday in Rome to search for a solution to the atomic standoff.

Bush upped US rhetoric at a White House news conference, warning the world must do more to isolate Iran.

“We’ve got a leader in Iran who has announced that he wants to destroy Israel,” Bush said.

“So I’ve told people that, if you’re interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon.”

Iranian officials said Putin put forward a proposal to break the deadlock over Iran’s nuclear programme during his exhausting and historic visit, but gave no further details.

Earlier, Putin and Ahmadinejad shook hands and smiled, as they met for talks in Tehran.

“I’m looking forward to getting President Putin’s read-out from the meeting,” Bush said.

“The thing I’m interested in is whether or not he continues to harbour the same concerns that I do,” Bush added.

Putin also held talks with Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and was quoted by state television as hoping for a “new page” in Moscow’s relations with the US foe.

Last week, Putin said after talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy that Russia had no information Iran was trying to make a nuclear bomb.—AFP