Chirac Warns Iran that Security Council Could Get Involved

Yahoo News:

French President Jacques Chirac warned Tehran the UN Security Council will have to become involved if agreement cannot be reached on Iran's nuclear programme.

In comments published in the Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, Chirac said that he could not predict the results of ongoing talks between Iran and the European troika of Britain, France and Germany. READ MORE

"I hope that they will end favourably and eliminate the danger of proliferation," the French leader said in the text of his newspaper interview, which was provided to AFP by his office.

"If that is not the case then it will naturally fall to the Security Council to consider the question."

Asked about the possibility of a military strike against Iran, Chirac replied: "Military attacks are not a solution to this kind of problem.

"There are civilised ways of solving these problems and we hope that these means will bring positive results".

However Chirac stressed that the prospect of Iran equipping itself with a nuclear arsenal "is simply unacceptable to France and our partners throughout the world".

France is ready to conduct a dialogue and cooperation with Iran in the political, economic and energy sectors, "recognising Iran's right to to civil nuclear energy, controlled internationally".

Iran on Thursday branded a fresh round of talks with three European countries as "constructive", state news agency IRNA reported, as negotiators attempted to ease the international standoff over Iran's nuclear activities.

Representatives from Britain, France and Germany met Iranian nuclear negotiators in London Wednesday for a fresh round of talks over Iran's nuclear program, which the United States suspects aims to build nuclear bombs.

Tehran insists its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes.

Iranian negotiator Hossein Moussavian said Iran has delivered "a significant and complete message" from top nuclear negotiator Hasan Rowhani on the "means of getting out of the current situation."

He added that the message shows "the extreme goodwill" of the Iranians and stressed that the discussions were "constructive", without giving further details.

However Iranian hardline president-elect Mahmood Ahmadinejad said that while his country remains faithful to its international obligations in the nuclear realm it will not be deprived of its rights.

"We are faithful to our international obligations (in nuclear matters) but we will not allow the Iranian people to be deprived of their rights," Mahmood Ahmadinejad said on Iranian state television on Thursday.

"Just as we hate weapons of mass destruction, we hate that some want to deprive other people from the right to peacefully use nuclear energy," he said.

On Sunday, an Iranian nuclear negotiator was quoted as saying that Iran could resume sensitive uranium enrichment activities if the EU-3 insisted on prolonging a voluntary enrichment freeze currently in effect.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called Friday for international sanctions against Iran to stop it from developing nuclear weapons.

He urged consideration of immediate economic sanctions on the Islamic republic before refering the case to the United Nations as "Iran becoming a nuclear power cannot be tolerated," in an interview in Friday's issue of the French daily Le Figaro.