FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER SAID THE WORLD SHOULD PREPARE FOR WAR WITH IRAN

PanARMENIAN.Net
17.09.2007 13:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the
world should prepare for war over Iran’s nuclear program.

"We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war," Mr Kouchner
said in an interview on French TV and radio.

Mr Kouchner said negotiations with Iran should continue "right to the
end", but that an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose "a real danger
for the whole world".

He said a number of large French companies had been asked not to
tender for business in Iran. "We are not banning French companies from
submitting. We have advised them not to. These are private companies,"
he said.

He was speaking ahead of a visit to Russia on Monday, during which
Iran is likely to feature prominently.

Iran’s nuclear program will also be one of the main issues for the
UN nuclear watchdog’s annual conference, starting in Vienna on Monday.

Iran denies it is trying to acquire nuclear weapons, and says it only
wants nuclear power to generate electricity for civilian purposes.

But it has repeatedly rejected UN demands to give up the enrichment
of uranium, which the U.S. and other Western states fear is being
diverted to a nuclear weapons project.

Until now the UN Security Council has imposed economic sanctions on
Iran, but did not allow for military action.