TEHRAN, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran on Thursday denounced a warning by U.S. President George W. Bush that Tehran's nuclear activities could lead to "World War III," the official IRNA news agency reported.

    Bush's remarks indicated "hegemonic and ambitious objectives of the U.S. neo-conservatives," which would jeopardize international security, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini was quoted as saying.

President George W. Bush holds a news conference in the media briefing room of the White House in Washington October 17, 2007.  (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    Hosseini said that the current atmosphere of election campaign in the United States and the failure of U.S. performance in Iraq and Afghanistan have led the war-mongering approach of neo-conservatives to a dead-end, so their survival at the top of Washington's policy making hierarchy has become ambiguous.

    Those U.S. officials use rhetoric and literature of war to cover up domestic and international difficulties they created, Hosseini added.

    Bush warned on Wednesday that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a threat to world peace and could ignite a world war. "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 (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon," Bush said.

    The United States and other Western nations have constantly accused Tehran of developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian-use program, which was repeatedly denied by Iran.