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The danger of a war with Iran exists, Sarkozy says
Dec 12, 2007, 13:35 GMT
Paris - There is a real danger of a war with Iran if Israel feels threatened by Tehran's uranium enrichment programme, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in an interview published Wednesday on the website of the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur.
'Everyone is agreed that what the Iranians are doing (with their nuclear programme) does not have a civilian explanation,' Sarkozy said.
'The problem for us is not so much the risk that the Americans will launch a military intervention, but that the Israelis will feel that their security is really threatened. The danger of war exists.'
Sarkozy said that if Iranian authorities allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out inspections, he would be ready 'to travel to Tehran and examine a cooperation on civilian nuclear energy.' He added that 'the Israelis and Americans trust me on this issue.'
Asked about his relationship with US President Geore W Bush, whom the magazine described as 'discredited,' Sarkozy said he had wanted to reconcile France with the US, 'not with the Bush administration.'
He said France's new relationship with Washington had accomplished two things: 'American objections over a European defence capability were lifted. France's influence in Europe is therefore much greater now than it was when we opposed the United States. Second, I achived progress on the environment and the Kyoto Protocol.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-AgenturCOMMENT
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