An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman says U.S. President George Bush's threat of military action against Tehran will not affect its nuclear ambitions.

Mohammad Ali Hosseini issued a statement Thursday calling President Bush's remarks "irresponsible" and accused him of having a "unilateral and arrogant attitude."

President Bush said in Germany Wednesday that all options, including military action, are being considered as a way to get Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

Mr. Bush also said he prefers using diplomacy to deal with the Iranian situation.

Washington and its allies accuse Iran of trying to make a nuclear bomb. Iran rejects the allegation.

Iran is under three sets of limited U.N. Security Council sanctions for defying demands to stop enriching uranium.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana is traveling to Tehran Saturday to offer an alternative incentives package to try to stop the enrichment.

Iranian media reported this week that the government has begun transferring its foreign assets from European banks to Asian banks to protect them from tighter sanctions.

Iran's deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, Mohsen Talaie, said the country also is buying up gold and stocks to increase Iran's security.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that she supported tighter sanctions if Iran does not meet its U.N. commitments. She made the comments after meeting Mr. Bush.

The U.S. president is in Italy today to push Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a harder stance on Iran.