President George W. Bush said yesterday that the United States was waiting for Iran's formal response to the UN Security Council resolution that requests Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment by the end of this month.

"We have passed one Security Council resolution, demanding that Iran cease its enrichment activities. We will see what their response is. We're beginning to get some indication, but we will wait until they give a formal response. The UN resolution calls for us to come back together on the 31st of August," Bush said at a press conference held in the White House.

Bush said he would continue to remind friends and allies of the danger of a nuclear Iran.

He also accused Iran of sponsoring the Lebanese Hezbollah, branded by the United States as a terrorist group.

Bush made the comments the day before Iran's self-imposed deadline of Aug. 22 for responding to a package of incentives offered by six major powers in return for halting the nuclear program.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has set a deadline of Aug. 31 for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment or face the possibility of economic sanctions.

However, statements made by Iranian officials so far suggest that Iran will neither agree to the incentives deal nor yield to the Security Council.

"The issue of suspension means returning to the past. Suspension is not on our agenda," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamidreza Assefi said on Sunday.

The United States has demanded that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment and reprocessing programs. However, Iran has refused to do so and said its uranium enrichment programs were purely for peaceful purposes.