France warns Iran of disastrous Israeli strike
Washington, 4 September (IranVNC)—France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy today warned Iran that it is at risk of an Israeli strike if it continues with its controversial nuclear program, which he said is being used to develop nuclear weapons.
By: IranVNC
Published: Thursday, September 04, 2008
12:00GMT—8:00AM/EST
IRAN – FRANCE – ISRAEL – NUCLEAR
Washington, 4 September (IranVNC)—France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy today warned Iran that it is at risk of an Israeli strike if it continues with its controversial nuclear program, which he said is being used to develop nuclear weapons.
“Iran is taking a major risk in continuing its process of obtaining nuclear weapons which we are certain is happening,” Bloomberg News Agency quotes Sarkozy as saying in Damascus, where he met Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.
He added: “One day, whatever the Israeli government [is], we could find one morning that Israel has struck.”
Western powers suspect Iran is using the cover of a civilian nuclear program to develop nuclear arms. Tehran denies the charge, insisting its program is peaceful and legitimate under the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT].
The United States and Israel have not taken the military option off the table on dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, although both sides stress continued diplomatic efforts.
But Sarkozy said that an Israeli strike on Iran would be a “catastrophe” that must be avoided, no matter how legitimate the action was.
Syria’s President al-Assad also said yesterday that any attack on Iran would be a “disaster” and vowed to “play a role” in the West’s standoff with the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.
“I told the president that Syria can play a role in the Iranian issue. Iran must not obtain a nuclear weapon but it has the right to have nuclear energy for peaceful use,” Reuters quoted al-Assad as saying.
Al-Assad reportedly also asked Sarkozy to play a role in his country’s indirect peace talks with Israel, which are currently being mediated by Turkey.
Speaking with the Al-Jazeera television network, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak yesterday said that the two-track approach towards Iran of sanctions and diplomacy should continue, but added that the military option remains.
“I propose to others not to remove any option from the table as well. But when we say it, we mean it,” Israel’s Y Net News quotes Barak as saying.
The United Nations Security Council has imposed three rounds of sanctions against Iran for its failure to heed international demands that it suspend its uranium enrichment program.
Iran risks a fourth round of UN sanctions after it failed last month to respond favorably to an incentives proposal by six major powers in return for suspension of its sensitive nuclear work.
Sarkozy yesterday again called on Iran to halt is uranium enrichment and said that it should accept stricter inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA].
“Then [Iran’s] good faith would be established,” Sarkozy was quoted by Reuters as saying.
Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg News Agency, Y Net News
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