[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great

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Chirac Warns Iran of Penalty if It Continues Nuclear Work
New York Times - By Elaine Sciolino thru SMCCDI
Aug 30, 2005


PARIS - President Jacques Chirac of France on Monday issued a stark ultimatum to Iran, warning that it would face censure by the United Nations Security Council if it did not reinstate a freeze on sensitive nuclear activities under an accord reached in Paris in November.

President Jacques Chirac, speaking to French ambassadors Monday, urged Iran to accept European incentives for freezing nuclear activity.

In his annual speech to French ambassadors at Elysee Palace, Mr. Chirac made clear that he was losing patience with Iran, even as he urged its leaders to accept an offer of incentives by France, Britain and Germany in exchange for an indefinite freeze of its uranium conversion and enrichment activities.

"Today I call on the Iranian authorities to choose the path of cooperation and confidence by carefully examining this offer and resuming their commitment to suspend activities related to the production of fissile materials," Mr. Chirac said. He added: "There is room for dialogue and negotiation. We call on Iran's spirit of responsibility to restore cooperation and confidence, failing which the Security Council will have no choice but to take up the issue."

France's new foreign minister, Philippe Douste-Blazy, has also given Iran sharp warnings, but this is the first time Mr. Chirac has clearly stated that Iran would face censure or even sanctions in the Security Council if it did not reinstate its freeze on its nuclear activities.

In taking such a tough line, Mr. Chirac sends a clear signal to Iran's newly elected conservative president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the country's new nuclear team that France has moved closer to the position of the United States, which has long held that Iran's case belongs in the Security Council.

The issue became more urgent after Iran's resumption of uranium conversion at its plant in Isfahan this month and the breakdown of its talks with the three European countries, under the auspices of the European Union.

Iran also rejected the European offer for a range of economic, political, security and technological incentives in exchange for permanently freezing its programs to produce enriched uranium, which can be used for either peaceful nuclear energy or in weapons programs.

Iran has declared, correctly, that its nuclear activities are allowed under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and it says it intends only peaceful use of nuclear energy. But Mr. Chirac has long made clear in conversations with world leaders, including President Bush, that he believes that Iran is intent on developing nuclear weapons.

"The use of civilian nuclear energy, which is perfectly legitimate, must not serve as a pretext for pursuing activities that could actually be aimed at building up a military nuclear arsenal," Mr. Chirac said Monday.
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The Sun Is Rising In The West!Soon It Will Shine on All of Iran!

[Spenta]

We'll see how long this new 'tough' line from Mullah a$$ ki$$ing Chirac will la$T!