-Caveat Lector-
Begin forwarded message:
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: September 18, 2007 5:50:24 PM PDT
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Russia & China --nuclear rivals of U.S.-- worried by talk
of Iran attack
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL1877362220070918?
pageNumber=1
Russia and China worried by Iran attack talk
Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:14pm BST
By Chris Baldwin
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and China expressed alarm on Tuesday over
comments by France's foreign minister raising the spectre of war
with Iran, and Washington said diplomacy was key to ending a
standoff with Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Minister Bernard Kouchner, his comments clearly testing the
resilience of a coalition of major powers seeking to curb Iran's
ambitions, sought to play down his weekend remarks, saying they had
been meant as a warning against war.
"I do not want it to be said that I am a warmonger!" he told Le
Monde newspaper, days before the five U.N. Security Council
permanent members, including Russia and China, and Germany were due
to meet to discuss possible new sanctions against Tehran.
"My message was a message of peace, of seriousness and of
determination," the paper quoted Kouchner as saying on his plane as
he headed to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made it clear at a joint
news briefing with Kouchner that his remarks had disturbed a
Kremlin, like China, less inclined to sanctions than the West.
"We are worried by reports that there is serious consideration
being given to military action in Iran," Lavrov said. "That is a
threat to a region where there are already grave problems in Iraq
and Afghanistan."
Washington, which itself has kept open the possibility of armed
force if diplomacy fails, made clear it had no interest in military
embroilment at this stage. At the same time, it seemed at pains to
dismiss suggestions of disunity among the powers.
"We believe that there is a diplomatic solution," White House
spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We are working with the French and
the rest of the EU (European Union) community in order to pressure
Iran to comply with their obligations under the U.N. Security
Council regulations."
Western powers led by the United States accuse Iran of using a
purported nuclear power programme as a screen for development of
nuclear arms -- something they fear could add enormously to
instability in the already volatile Middle East. They point to
Iran's past secrecy over nuclear research as cause for concern.
IRAN UNMOVED
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an outspoken critic of the
West, said Kouchner's comments were meant only for the media. "We
do not consider these threats to be serious."
Iran says it seeks nuclear energy only for electricity and condemns
U.N. sanctions promoted by the five permanent members -- China,
Russia, the United States, France and Britain -- and Germany over
its uranium enrichment programme.
Lavrov, signalling Russian policy at a powers' meeting scheduled
for Friday to consider new steps, said Iran should be left to work
with the International Atomic Energy Agency before the world
considers further sanctions or military action.
"The United States and the European Union are taking tougher anti-
Iranian sanctions ... if we agree to work collectively... then what
purpose is served by unilateral actions?"
China also condemned Kouchner's weekend remarks.
"We believe the best option is to peacefully resolve the Iranian
nuclear issue through diplomatic negotiations, which is in the
common interests of the international community," Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a briefing.
"We do not approve of easily resorting to threatening use of force
in international affairs," Jiang said.
Kouchner said France had asked French firms not to bid for work in
Iran.
"We must prepare for the worst," he said in the weekend interview
with RTL radio and LCI television. "The worst, sir, is war." He
said, however, that war was not an imminent prospect.
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Reuters journalists are subject to the Reuters Editorial Handbook
which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
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