Iran warned of repercussions if Mr Sarkozy’s comments were repeated

Iran has summoned the French ambassador in Tehran over comments made by the French president about his Iranian counterpart, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this week that he would not be able to shake hands with someone who said Israel had to be wiped off the map.

Ambassador Bernard Poletti was told of Iran’s strong objections.

He was told there would be repercussions for relations if such remarks were repeated.

In the speech, given on 8 December on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Mr Sarkozy said: “How is it that a people such as the Iranian people – one of the world’s greatest peoples, one of the world’s oldest civilisations, sophisticated, cultured, open – have the misfortune of being represented as they are today by some of their leaders?

“I have said this to my friend Kofi [Annan]: I find it impossible to shake hands with somebody who has dared to say that Israel must be wiped off the map.

“I know perfectly well that we must resolve what is perhaps the most serious international crisis we are having to resolve: that of Iran moving towards a nuclear bomb.

“We cannot resolve it without talking to Iranian leaders, but, after what was the Shoah, after what was the 20th century, I cannot sit at the same table as a man who dares to say: Israel must be wiped off the map.”

The Iranian president has repeatedly called for an end to the Israeli state and has described the holocaust as a myth.

In October 2004, the Iranian president made a statement in which he envisaged the replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state.

Less than two weeks ago, business people, trade experts and bankers gathered in Hamburg for a seminar sponsored by the German-Iranian Chamber of Commerce entitled “Iran Sanctions — Practical Consequences for German Companies.” The seminar was aimed at helping companies maintain a profitable relationship with Iran in the face of United Nations sanctions against Tehran.

And therein, according to Hamburg-based political scientist Matthias Kuentzel, lie the seeds for conflict between Washington and Berlin once the new Obama administration begins its promised new approach to Iran.
“While the United States reacts to reports that Iran has enriched enough uranium for a nuclear weapon with concern and calls for tighter sanctions, in Germany, it’s business as usual,” Kuentzel said.

Obama to seek stronger sanctions

In an interview broadcast Sunday on the NBC news program “Meet the Press,” Obama reiterated that he would continue offering incentives to encourage Iran to cease enriching uranium, but would seek stronger economic sanctions if it did not.

“You know, in terms of carrots, I think that we can provide economic incentives that would be helpful to a country that, despite being a net oil producer, is under enormous strain, huge inflation, a lot of unemployment problems there,” Obama said.

German support for Obama’s strategy and tougher sanctions is “crucial,” said Kuentzel.

“Because of the history of German relations with Iran, there is a special dependency there that isn’t there in relationships with Russia or China, for example,” he said. “Germany is able to put real pressure on Iran.

Germany is Europe’s largest exporter to Iran, with exports up 14.1 percent in the first seven months of this year. But as the Wall Street Journal recently commented in an opinion piece entitled “Germany Loves Iran,” Berlin refuses to use its leverage with Tehran.

The paper concluded that if Obama wants to contain Iran’s nuclear ambitions, his first task will be “persuading his many admirers in Germany.”
The Wall Street Journal is not the only US media outlet now taking a closer look at Germany’s ties with Iran. The Washington Times recently commented on a key hypocrisy in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government. On the one hand, the paper wrote, Merkel stresses Germany’s historical responsibility to Iran’s arch-foe, Israel. She openly criticizes the Iranian government, even drawing a parallel to Nazi Germany. But, as the Times pointed out, despite this “more frequently, her government capitulates to pressure from German exporters to continue business as usual with Tehran.”

Financial crisis taking top priority

As Germany feels the effects of the worldwide recession, Merkel has shown that she is prepared to put economic matters above other issues which were key platform issues in the early days of her administration. On Monday, for example, the one-time “climate chancellor” said she would fight any EU climate deal that would jeopardize German jobs. Why should she react any differently if asked to stifle German business ties to Iran, many are wondering?

But as political scientist Kuentzel says, in the big picture, Germany wouldn’t stand to lose all that much.

“Germany is a world champion when it comes to exports,” he said. “Exports to Iran represent just 0.25 percent of the whole export industry, so it’s a very tiny share. And while I don’t deny that small companies could be damaged if they had to stop business with Iran, it’s mainly big companies like Siemens that are doing the deals, and they have business dealings all over the world.”

For Kuentzel, it’s high time that German leaders put their money where their mouth is when it comes to condemnation of Iran — and not just because of its nuclear program.

“It’s embarrassing that the German government is behaving the way it is now,” he said. “Germany has a special responsibility to stand up to Holocaust deniers. And Iran is the only major government in the world which denies the Holocaust and puts this at the center of its foreign policy.”
Source: DW-WORLD.DE

Israeli Air Force Commander General Ido Nehushtan claims his forces are ready to follow any order to thwart Iran’s nuclear programs.

“The IAF is a very robust and flexible force … ready to do whatever is demanded,” the Nehushtan told German magazine Der Spiegel on Tuesday.

He added, however, a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities “is a political decision” and has nothing to do with Israel’s military capabilities.

Tel Aviv and Washington have repeatedly accused Tehran of pursuing a military nuclear program, a claim denied by the Islamic Republic. Israel has said it will not rule out any option to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear program, insisting that the use of military force is a legitimate option.

The Nehushtan interview coincides with recent remarks by former Israeli military general, Moshe Ya’alon, who said that Israeli armed forces have the ‘right capabilities’ to launch a successful strike against Iran.

Ya’alon also revealed the wider ambitions of the Israeli regime aimed at toppling the Iranian government.

“[A strike] is not the end of the game. Then, we should follow it up with a viable, sustainable military operation to target the facilities [serving] the regime’s interests, and not allow the regime to rehabilitate itself.”

Iranian military officials have warned Israeli and other foreign aggressors of the bitter consequences that would follow an attack against the nation.

The Commander of the Iranian Army, Major General Ataollah Salehi, noted Tuesday that Iran “will inflict a humiliating defeat on aggressors with our arrow of anger.”

“The superpowers should know that Iran is aware of the secrets of aggressive countries,” he added.

Asked whether Israel is capable of targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, which are spread across the country, Nehushtan replied, “I can only say this: It is not a technical or logistical question.”

“Modern technology is one thing, but the biggest advantage we have is our soldiers and officers. Israel is a small country. We neither have a big population nor natural resources. Our biggest asset is our human resources. And it is the air force that makes best use of it,” he said.

The threats against Iran’s nuclear program conflict with the latest report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, which revealed that its inspectors have not found any ‘components of a nuclear weapon’ or ‘related nuclear physics studies’ in the country.

World powers are set to meet Thursday in Paris to discuss the next steps in addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Representatives from Germany and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members: the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, plan to consider ways to discourage Iran from enriching uranium.

The meeting falls a day after Iran said it test-fired a new generation missile, the Sejil, capable of striking Israel and southeastern Europe with greater precision.

The United States condemned the test as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

In a separate development, South Korea’s Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan has called on Iran to restore international confidence in its nuclear activities, following talks with his Iranian counterpart in Seoul Thursday.

Iran says nuclear program pursues peaceful purpose

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the South Korean official that Tehran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.

Mottaki arrived in Seoul from North Korea where he met Foreign Minister Pak Ui Chun and other top officials.

It was not immediately clear if the officials discussed Iran’s missile test.

Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar has said the combined-solid fuel surface-to-surface Sejil missile has a range of two-thousand kilometers. But he added that the weapon was only meant for defensive purposes.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood says he would not be surprised if the test-firing of the missile comes up during the Paris meeting Thursday.

Wood and Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman both say the test underlines the importance of a missile defense shield in Europe – an issue that has put Washington at odds with Moscow.

Iran tests-fires a new generation of surface-to-surface missile, state television reports on Wednesday, November 12.

Iran’s armed forces have staged frequent manoeuvres in recent months, coinciding with speculation of possible U.S. or Israeli strikes against the Islamic Republic over its disputed nuclear ambitions.

“Iran successfully test-fires new generation of ground-to-ground missiles,” state television said in a scrolling headline. The missile has the name Sejil on its upper body.

Iran has said it would respond to any attack on its territory by targeting U.S. interests and Washington’s ally Israel, as well as closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for world oil supplies.