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R E G I O N: Iran has secret military N-programme: France

* Britain’s opposition party supports option of military attack on Tehran

PARIS: French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said on Thursday Iran was pursuing a clandestine military nuclear programme.

“No civilian nuclear programme can explain the Iranian nuclear programme. So it is a clandestine Iranian military nuclear programme,” Douste-Blazy told France 2 television. “The international community has sent a very firm message by saying to the Iranians: ‘Come back to reason. Suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment of uranium and the conversion of uranium,’” he added.

“They are not listening to us.”

Douste-Blazy said the international community was united on the nuclear issue and that the Security Council would decide how to act after the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog submits a report on the situation in March.

Meanwhile, Britain’s main opposition Conservative Party was quoted as saying on Thursday that a military action against Iran should not be ruled out to deal with its controversial nuclear programme. The Times newspaper said the party’s defence spokesman Liam Fox told US Republicans in Washington that British Prime Minister Tony Blair should follow President George W Bush’s example and leave all options on the table. “Every pressure must be brought,” Fox was quoted as saying in a speech to the right-wing Hermitage Foundation on Thursday.

“But it was wrong for the European Union’s foreign affairs spokesman Xavier Solana to rule out the use of force. It is wrong for Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, to echo him.”

“Frederick the Great once observed that diplomacy without arms was like music without instruments. We must keep all options open if we are to stand any chance of a diplomatic solution to the Iranian crisis.”

Blair has made repeated warnings to Tehran that it was making a mistake by ignoring international concern over its nuclear research programme, which western powers fear is a front for developing atomic weapons. But he has said that military action is ‘not on our agenda’. Instead, he hopes the crisis will be resolved through diplomatic means.

Fox is part of a Conservative Party delegation attempting to heal a rift with senior US Republicans following the Tories’ call two years ago for Blair to resign over the Iraq war. China, however, urged a diplomatic resolution of the standoff on Thursday, a day after the United States said Tehran was defying the international community by resuming enrichment.

“We’re extremely concerned about the status of the Iranian nuclear issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a regular news briefing.

“It’s extremely important for the international community to uphold the consensus on resolving the Iran nuclear issue through diplomatic means and call on the related parties to maintain calm, restraint and patience.”

“We believe that a member country under the NPT has the right to peaceful use of nuclear power. At the same time, it should follow the relevant international rules,” Qin said. agencies

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