Interesting to see France getting vocal about Iran.
France accuses Iran of making nuclear arms
(AP)
Updated: 2006-02-17 08:14
France accused Iran on Thursday of secretly making nuclear weapons, ditching Europe's traditional diplomatic caution for bluntness that echoed the tough U.S. stance and reflected growing exasperation with Tehran.
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center), President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Reza Aghazadeh (left) and Ahmadinejad's close advisor and cabinet secretary Masoud Zaribafan, right, visit the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006. [AP]
Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (center), President of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Reza Aghazadeh (left) and Ahmadinejad's close advisor and cabinet secretary Masoud Zaribafan, right, visit the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities some 200 miles (322 km) south of the capital Tehran on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006. [AP]
Iran quickly denied the allegation by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, who hardened the line that European negotiators had previously taken in their efforts to persuade Iran to suspend nuclear activities.
"No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television.
"The international community has sent a very firm message in telling the Iranians to return to reason and suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment and conversion of uranium, but they aren't listening to us."
Uranium enrichment can produce fuel for both nuclear energy and nuclear weapons. Iran resumed small-scale uranium enrichment last week but insists its nuclear activity is aimed solely at generating electricity.
While the United States has long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, European leaders had been more delicate.
France's Foreign Ministry insisted Douste-Blazy's remarks were in line with the European position on Iran. France, Germany and Britain have been negotiating with Iran, but no other European leader has spoken so frankly.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in contrast to Douste-Blazy's evident frustration, said Thursday she was "very optimistic that we can do everything to solve this conflict with diplomatic means."
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also struck a more cautious note than his French counterpart.
"There are strong suspicions internationally that Iran may be seeking to use its nuclear program in order to develop a nuclear weapons capability," he said Thursday on a visit to Algeria. "We do not have absolute proof, we do not have conclusive evidence of this."
In Washington, the House voted 404-4 on Thursday to approve a non-binding resolution expressing support for efforts to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The Senate already approved the symbolic legislation, which imposes no legal consequences on Iran.
The U.N. Security Council will consider Iran's nuclear activities next month. The council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions on Iran.
"Now it's up to the Security Council to say what it will do, what means it will use to stop, to manage, to halt this terrible crisis of nuclear proliferation caused by Iran," Douste-Blazy said.
Iran's chief negotiator, Ali Larijani, lashed back.
"I recommend that Mr. Douste-Blazy speak in diplomatic terms and avoid increasing tension," Iranian state-run television quoted him as saying. "The motivation of the French foreign minister behind his new comments is ambiguous to us. But it is in the interests of the region that the West adopts a logical stance toward Iran's nuclear activities."
Georges Le Guelte, a nuclear expert at France's Institute for International and Strategic Research, called Douste-Blazy's statement "remarkable."
"It was not very diplomatic," he said, adding it sent a powerful message to French companies operating in Iran that have pressured the government to remain cautious.
Richard Whitman of the Chatham House think tank in London said Douste-Blazy's comments reflect "a sense of exasperation with the Iranian government."
"All of the doors that were open in terms of negotiations ... are gradually being closed by the Iranians," he said.
So far, the United States, Europe and Russia have stuck together in an effort to pressure Iran.
A senior U.S. State Department official visiting Turkey on
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Thursday cautioned that Iran's leadership will try to divide the international community. The official, who requested anonymity because his meetings with Turkish officials were ongoing, said for diplomacy to work, countries must quickly send a unified message that Iran is isolated, losing international trust and harming itself.
The next big test comes next week at talks in Moscow on moving Iran's enrichment program to Russia. The proposal is meant to allay fears that Tehran might use the technology to make nuclear arms. Tensions over Iran are likely to diminish if Tehran agrees to the Russian proposal — and balloon if it does not.
Meanwhile, Russia's military chief Gen. Yuri Baluyevsky warned the United States against launching a military strike against Iran, saying "it is hard to predict how the Muslim world will respond." |
