Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Thursday rejected US President George W. Bush's accusation that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, terming such charges as "baseless".

"The Americans level a charge and make conclusions based on the same groundless charge," the official IRNA news agency quoted Kharazi as saying.

"Iran definitely has no plan for producing nuclear weapons and any such plan is not a part of our security strategies," Kharazi, who is currently visiting London, said in an interview.

Bush on Wednesday repeated previous US claims that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, saying that the White House views any possible plan by Iran to that effect as intolerable because of Iran's stated objective to destroy Israel.

Kharazi cited earlier announcements by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it had found no evidence to testify US claims on Iran's nuclear energy program.

He reiterated previous pledges that Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful, stressing that the Islamic Republic has a legitimate right to promote peaceful nuclear activities under IAEA commitments. 

(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2004)