Iran has called on the United Nations to take urgent action against the United States after reports that Washington was contemplating possible nuclear strikes against it.
In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Iran's UN ambassador Javad Zarif called President Bush's refusal to rule out a US nuclear strike on Iran and a similar follow-up statement by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "illegal and insolent threats".
Mr Bush was asked last month whether US options regarding Iran "include the possibility of a nuclear strike" if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment. "All options are on the table," the president replied, but he stressed that the United States will continue to focus on diplomacy.
Iran insists it is legally entitled under the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty to enrich uranium to provide fuel for civilian power plants, but the United States suspects its real aim is to produce nuclear weapons, a view backed by Britain and France.
Mr Zarif said the use of "false pretexts" by senior US officials "to make public and illegal threats of resort to force against the Islamic Republic of Iran is continuing unabated in total contempt of international law and fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter".
The "US aggressive policy" of contemplating the possible use of nuclear weapons also violates the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and other US multilateral agreements, he said.
Mr Zarif's letter made no mention of recent threats by Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel "off the map."
Instead, the Iranian ambassador honed in on statements from US officials, especially from Bush, which he said "defiantly articulate the United States policies and intentions on the resort to nuclear weapons".
In a brief statement responding to the letter, US Ambassador John Bolton said that if Iran wants to be treated differently, Iran should stop pursuing nuclear weapons and give up terrorism.
The secretary-general had no immediate comment on the letter.
AP