Paris
Iranian authorities reacted angrily on Monday to French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner's warning that the world should prepare
for a war over Tehran's nuclear programme.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Mohammad Ali Hosseini, accused
France of echoing the policies of the United States and of
undermining the positions of the European Union and the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"The fact that the statements of French authorities correspond to
the position of the dominating power (the US) damages the
credibility of France in global public opinion," Hosseini said.
He went on to charge that Kouchner's statements "not only did not
conform to the general policies of the European Union in regard to
Iran, but also put in doubt the competence of the IAEA."
Interviewed on the French television station LCI late Sunday,
Kouchner said, "We must prepare for the worst." Asked what the worst
was, he replied, "It is war."
Kouchner said there was "no greater crisis today" than that over
Tehran's developing nuclear programme.
"We will not accept that this (nuclear) bomb will be built," he
declared, for this would represent "a real danger for the entire
world."
Iran has steadfastly declared that its nuclear programme is intended
exclusively for the production of energy, and not arms.
Kouchner also called on the EU to impose economic sanctions on
Tehran outside of those imposed by the United Nations.
Kouchner's warning on Iran followed the line taken by President
Nicolas Sarkozy in an Aug 27 speech in which he warned that the
Iranian nuclear crisis presented the world with "a catastrophic
alternative: an Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."
The Iranian government news agency IRNA accused Sarkozy and Kouchner
of "extremism" and charged that the French president wanted "to copy
the White House."
For his part, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday
urged countries to refrain from talking about an escalation of the
Iran nuclear crisis.
Speaking at the annual General Conference of the International
Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, ElBaradei said there was no "clear
and present danger" from Iran.
German authorities appeared to give the French cautious backing on
their stance toward Iran.
The French government was correct in its assessment that "there are
all the elements of a very serious obligation on the international
community and that we must do everything possible to ensure that
Iran does not become nuclear armed," government spokesman Ulrich
Wilhelm said in Berlin.
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