Iran says Bush speech contained nothing new

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran said on Tuesday there was nothing new in a speech by U.S. President George W. Bush in which he told the Islamic Republic to halt sensitive nuclear work so negotiations between the two sides could start.

In his final State of the Union address on Monday, Bush renewed the call for Iran to stop enriching uranium that can be used for nuclear weapons. Washington, which has not had diplomatic ties with Iran since 1980, says it will only hold talks if enrichment is halted.

Tehran has refused to stop its atomic activities insisting that it has no intention of building nuclear weapons and only wants the technology to make fuel for atomic power plants.

"We, like the American people, heard the repetitious speech of Bush which lacked any new points," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency and other Iranian media.

"After two terms have now past, (Bush) hasn't had any considerable achievements in the domestic and international arena and it is unlikely that he will be able to cover his failure through diverting attention," Hosseini said.

As well as accusing Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, Washington blames Iran for stoking violence in Iraq. In his address, Bush said the United States would "confront those who threaten our troops."

Tehran has dismissed the charge saying the U.S. occupation is to blame for bloodshed in Iraq and says U.S. charges are aimed at hiding Washington's own policy failings.

"We suggest that the U.S. president in the remaining time (in office) puts on the agenda the real concerns and worries of the American people," Hosseini said.

"In the past seven years, we repeatedly witnessed baseless and worthless comments and accusations by Bush against Iran."

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian, writing by Edmund Blair)