The U.S. White House reiterated yesterday that it wants to settle Iran's nuclear crisis through diplomacy after media reports said that the Pentagon is planning for possible military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.

"We are seeking to resolve this in a diplomatic way," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

However, McClellan added, "No president is taking options off the table."

The White House has kept describing an Iran with nuclear arms as a "grave threat to the security of the world."

Bush says he is pursuing a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but he has added that all options are on the table for stopping Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons.

Recently, mass media quoted unidentified current and former U.S. officials as reporting that the Pentagon and CIA planners have been exploring possible targets, such as the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan, Iran.

An article published by the latest issue of the New Yorker magazine asserts that the Pentagon presented the White House this winter with an option to use bunker-buster nuclear bombs against Iran's underground nuclear site.