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EU Condemns Iranian President’s Anti-Israel Comments, Warns Tehran on Nuclear Program
The European Union today officially condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s most recent anti-Israel rhetoric and expressed renewed concern over Tehran’s nuclear efforts, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Dec. 9). “The EU condemns unreservedly President Ahmadinejad’s call for the eradication of Israel and his denial of the Holocaust,” says a statement set to be included in the conclusions from this week’s EU summit. “The comments are wholly unacceptable and have no place in a civilized political debate,” the statement says. “The European Council is gravely concerned at Iran’s failure to build confidence that its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” it adds (Agence France-Presse I/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 16). The European Union has also lodged a formal protest with Moscow over its sale of missile systems to Iran, the Associated Press reported yesterday (George Jahn, Associated Press/Forbes.com, Dec. 15). Meanwhile, Washington is trying to build diplomatic support to further challenge Iran, AFP reported yesterday. “Bilaterally we have few instruments of influence,” said Scott Lasensky, an analyst with the United States Institute of Peace. “On the world stage there is quite a lot you can do.” “If Russia were to announce that it was ceasing cooperation with the construction of [the] Bushehr [nuclear reactor in Iran], that would be quite a political blow to the Ahmadinejad government,” said Patrick Clawson, an expert on Iran at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Increased military cooperation with the Gulf Cooperation Council and U.S. military flights over Iran could provide added leverage, Clawson said. A senior State Department official told AFP that concerns about Iran are often discussed at meetings with U.S. allies (Peter Mackler, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Dec. 15). Elsewhere, Iran today warned that it would respond with “swift and destructive” power in retaliation to any attack by Israel, AFP reported. “The policy of the Islamic republic of Iran is completely defensive, but if we are attacked, the answer of the armed forces will be swift, firm and destructive,” said Defense Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar (Agence France-Presse II/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 16).
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