President Jacques Chirac of France on Monday issued a stark ultimatum to Iran, warning that it would face censure by the UN Security Council if it did not reinstate a freeze on sensitive nuclear activities under an accord reached in Paris in November.
In his annual speech to France's ambassadors at the Elysee Palace, 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," 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 Chirac has clearly stated that Iran would face censure or even sanctions if it did not reinstate its freeze on its nuclear activities.
In taking such a tough line, Chirac sends a clear signal to Iran's newly elected president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the country's new nuclear team that France has moved closer to the position of the US, 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 in August and the breakdown of its talks with the three European countries, under the auspices of the EU. 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 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," Chirac said on Monday.
In other remarks, Chirac said France would live up to its commitments to Turkey regarding its right to start negotiations in October for EU membership. Early this month, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said that Turkey must formally recognize Cyprus before talks can begin, a statement that brought a firestorm of criticism from the EU's executive body.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
RSS