10 September 2007
editorial
Abuja — Barely one day after his foreign minister's recent apology for inappropriately calling for leadership change in Iraq, France's Nicolas Sarkozy brandished the use of force against Iran, if it "did not meet international obligations to curb its nuclear programme.
"The neo-Gaullist president's comments were the more surprising for coming at a time when cooperation between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had enabled IAEA to verify "the non-diversion of the declared nuclear materials at Iran's enrichment facilities" and virtually normalize Iran's nuclear dossier. Both sides want to resolve other questions about Tehran's nuclear programme and have set a time table for "transparency" by December. The United States (US) and its allies remain concerned however that the transparency plan would not require Iran to furnish adequate proof for its answers. President George Bush meanwhile, amidst the relentless anti-Iran campaign riveting the US media, has warned that "Iran's pursuit of the atomic bomb could lead to a nuclear holocaust in the Middle East" and promised to confront Tehran "before it is too late."
Sarkozy's comments might well have been intended to alert Tehran that the leaders of US and Israel regard the so-called US-Iran nuclear standoff as an international problem that requires urgent solution. We fear however that his alarmist depiction of the standoff as "undoubtedly the most serious crisis before us today" risks pushing France down a path where only dogs of war and clashing civilizations prowl; for his comments could be read by some in Washington as signalling growing European acceptance of "the military option" to thwart Iran's nuclear programme. He was ill-advised therefore, in our opinion, to provide the hawkish US administration with even the slightest excuse for lessening the international diplomatic push.
Sarkozy may just be trying too hard to carve out a more assertive role for France in the Middle East. He has lately outlined his position on some of the region's thorniest problems, including the enduring occupation of Palestine and Iraq, the complex crisis in Lebanon, Syria's international isolation, Hamas' takeover of Gaza, Turkey's bid for membership of the European Union, and Iran's nuclear programme. He has reiterated his commitment to the security of Israel and even described the Gaza Strip as "Hamastan;" but he has also called for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the crises in Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran "in order to prevent confrontation between Islam and the West." If indeed he considers the avoidance of clashes between Islam and the West to be France's "first challenge of the 21st century," as he often has claimed, he must avoid threatening Muslim states with brazen diktat.
Sarkozy will hopefully learn that the US-Iran nuclear standoff is a crisis of choice rather than necessity - choice by US and some of its allies to recycle exaggerated media frenzy about an Iranian nuclear bomb in order to divert attention from the real threats to peace in the Middle East. We respectfully remind him that Article 14 of United Nations Resolution 687 foresaw the elimination of Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems only as a step toward "establishing in the Middle East a zone free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery." Since Israel's nuclear armament and the self-proclaimed US "right" of first nuclear strike, even against non-nuclear powers that have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, have equally heightened anxiety about national defence in some Middle East countries such as Iran, it behoves all peace-loving world leaders to take steps to eliminate nuclear weapons from that cauldron of animosity. They must step up efforts to resolve the differences between feuding parties by negotiation, not by threats of military sanction.
Sarkozy evidently believes that he can repair France's frayed relations with the United States without becoming President Bush's sycophant. He is keen to demonstrate disagreement with Washington and has publicly contradicted President Bush by demanding a timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq. However, his call on Iran to "back down from its nuclear ambitions" was unhelpful. In our opinion, it is Sarkozy and his cronies that must refrain from war mongering and even apologise to Iranians for suggesting that an unprovoked war against their country can somehow be justified.
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