US President George W. Bush said on Friday that the deal on Iran's nuclear activities must be "verifiable".

The "only good deal is one that is verifiable," Bush told reporters in Crawford, Texas where he is on vacation for the long holiday weekend.

Bush said that he appreciated efforts by Britain, Germany and France to try to convince Iran to honor their international treaty obligations.

"I look forward to talking to the leaders of those countries if they can get Iran to agree to a deal to make sure that it's verifiable," Bush said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Friday said that Iran and Europe were close to agreement on a freeze on Iranian fuel cycle work that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

Claiming Iran is on the verge of enriching enough uranium for making nuclear weapons, Washington has been prompting the IAEA to refer Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council for sanctions against Iran.

Iran always denies the US charge, saying it is only interested in generating electricity.

(Xinhua News Agency November 27, 2004)