- The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, today sought to calm
fears that the US president, George Bush, would use his second term to
further reshape the Middle East by launching military strikes against Iran,
describing the prospect as "inconceivable".
-
- The US believes that Iran, despite its denials, is on
course to gain the capability of producing a nuclear weapon within the
next three years, making it the Middle East's second nuclear power along
with Israel.
-
- Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning,
Mr Straw made clear Britain's opposition to military strikes. The foreign
secretary has been working closely with his French and German counterparts
over recent months to secure a diplomatic solution to the issue.
-
- Asked if he thought that the world would back a strike
on Iran, either by US or Israeli forces, Mr Straw said: "Not only
is that inconceivable, but I think the prospect of it happening is inconceivable."
-
- In 1981 Israel launched air strikes to destroy Iraq's
nuclear programme at Osirak. The Israeli leader at the time, Menachem Begin,
said that it would not allow hostile states to develop nuclear weapons.
-
- Today, however, Mr Straw insisted that the international
community was committed to resolving the impasse with Iran "constructively".
-
- "I don't see any circumstances in which military
action would be justified against Iran," he said.
-
- The US is pushing for the International Atomic Energy
Authority, the UN body which was a part of the hunt for weapons for mass
destruction in Iraq, to refer Iran to the UN security council on November
25, which would then have to decide whether to impose sanctions.
-
- US diplomats are, however, meeting Iranian officials
ahead of that decision at a conference on Iraq in Egypt on November 23,
leaving an opportunity open for bilateral progress.
-
- James Phillips, Middle East analyst at the influential
rightwing Heritage Foundation in Washington, thinks that President Bush
will try to pursue a "multilateral strategy" on Iran but does
not believe that military intervention can be ruled out.
-
- "Bush may try to pull the European allies into a
multilateral strategy, especially on the nuclear issue, even if only to
prove he is open to that," he told Associated Press. "I am hopeful
it can be resolved short of war."
-
- Mr Straw's call for a multilateral diplomatic approach
to Iran comes after Tony Blair appealed to the US President and European
leaders to work together to resolve the "conditions and causes on
which the terrorists prey", particularly the present impasse in the
Middle East peace progress.
-
- Speaking at a Downing Street press conference last night,
the prime minister said that securing a settlement between Israel and the
Palestinians was "the single most pressing political challenge in
the world".
-
- Mr Blair had earlier told MPs during his weekly Common's
questions time that Israel's planned pull-out from Gaza was an opportunity
to kickstart the peace process, but that more was needed.
-
- "My very clear view, and I believe this is shared
by President Bush and indeed certainly by the international community,
is that the disengagement plan from the Gaza strip is important ... but
it is a first step," he said.
-
- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004 http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/story/0,11538,1343207,00.html
|
