WASHINGTON, July 21 (Xinhuanet) -- White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Tuesday that the United States was being tough with Iran as he reiterated the US call for Iran to abandon its nuclear program and turn over al-Qaeda members held in the country.

    "We are being tough with Iran. We are working to get Iran to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons right now ... and we continue to call on Iran to abandon their nuclear program," McClellan said at a news briefing.

    "We have also spoken about Iran's continued support for and harboring of terrorists, particularly Hezbollah. We have also called on Iran to turn over those al-Qaeda leaders that are in their country to their country of origin. So there are a number ofways that we are addressing the issues and concerns we have regards to Iran," McClellan said.

    "Those are serious concerns," the spokesman said.

    US President George W. Bush said on Monday that the United States would continue to investigate if Iran was involved in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

    "As to direct connections with September the 11th, we are digging into the facts to determine if there was one," Bush said.

    However, US officials have emphasized that they had no evidenceto suggest that Iranian officials knew of the Sept. 11 plot.

    Iran has denied US accusations and said news reports tying Iranto the al-Qaeda were part of a US cover-up to deflect attention away from its failings in Iraq. Enditem