French Claim To Have Proof Iran Is Developing Nuclear Weapons
French defense minister Herve Morin said Monday, Oct. 29, he has information that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. He thus publicly contradicted remarks made by IAEA director Mohammed ElBaradai that there is no such evidence. Morin, on a visit to the Persian Gulf emirates, spoke at the same time as the IAEA director’s address the UN General Assembly.
DEBKAfile’s sources report that president Nicolas Sarkozy plans a state visit to Jerusalem in a few weeks, during which he will the address the Knesset on the Iranian nuclear threat, counter-measures and his commitment to Israel’s security.
Washington and Jerusalem are in intensive discussions over the prudence of Israel publicly leveling on its Sept. 6 attack on the Syrian installation, in consideration of the risk that a statement by prime minister Ehud Olmert could further raise war tensions. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Israel’s air force and navy have been on high alert for some days.
Washington and Jerusalem are of one mind about the need to refute ElBaradei’s position that there are no grounds for nuclear allegations against Iran and Syria.
Addressing the UN General Assembly Monday, the IAEA director admitted that Iran was flouting UN Security Council resolutions on two points: uranium enrichment continued and so did the construction of a heavy water plant in Arak. He made no reference to Iran’s current work with plutonium.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a senior American official who has worked extensively on nuclear issues: “I would say there’s no doubt now that Syria was in an early phase of a program.”
Some U.S. diplomats were quoted by the paper as deriding the IAEA for failing to identify the Syrian program itself. Involving the IAEA could have bogged down the Syrian proliferation threat in endless rounds of negotiations with no action. “The Israelis decided to take care of this early on. We don’t want to involve an agency that thinks it’s in control, but isn’t,” said one diplomat.
DEBKAfile
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
I have little regard for any International Inspectors. The UN chemical weapons inspectors were supposed to be highly trained. Yet they spent the sum total of a day & a half at a friend of mines company in NJ receiving instruction of what types of equipment to look for that would produce chemical or biological weapons. Everyone at that company is still laughing at how ignorant that the inspectors were and could barely identify process equipment after their “education”.
What a joke, I’m sure that they were all well educated and experienced at the UN University of Graft and Corruption.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:28 pmNo one has ever said Iran wasn’t developing nuclear weapons, because they have been careful with their words.
All the weasels will say is that there is no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
That may no longer be the case, if this report from France is confirmed.
Weapons inspectors were only meant to confirm that a country (or company) is only doing what they say they are doing. They look for compliance. They aren’t meant to be weapons detectives nor are they authorized to be weapoons detectives. That is how Saddam Hussein had an ongoing nuclear program in the ’90s when the weapons inspectors were busy looking at the areas they were supposed to look at for compliance. They don’t have unfettered access and they will never get it in a country that is a closed society for the most part. Mohammed ElBaradai himself could walk 20 feet from a nuclear program and still really have no evidence that Iran has an ongoing nuclear program. The system is rigged against the free world.
October 29th, 2007 at 5:47 pmAhlo, Ahlo, Franchie, is that you? Quick! Disperse the white flag battalion!
October 29th, 2007 at 6:03 pmFranchie I saw an add from France that read
100,000 M16K’s for sale
October 29th, 2007 at 7:02 pmNever used / dropped only one time
the French getting behind us is pretty odd - but I will take it if it means getting more support behind bombing iran’s nuke facilities
October 30th, 2007 at 12:00 am“100,000 M16K’s for sale
Never used / dropped only one time”
that must be cause they are oddy in that sort of conflict
BTW, ask to the Africans if they did not have a test of them ?
fifish run out of clear water ?
October 30th, 2007 at 1:23 amFranchie:
October 30th, 2007 at 3:01 pmAre you referring to Somalia? You had better check your history again, if so.
fifish,
why I would quote your misfortune in Somalia as our action ?
BTW Somalia never was our colony, only Djibuti, which is as big as Monaco
no, our specialisation is deep black Africa ;
I am surprised you didn’t quote Ivory coast, but I prefer Chad where we still are ; our pilots made once a trip on an airport in north of Chad, that Khadafi claimed as part of Chad, and destroyed it
October 30th, 2007 at 3:48 pm“that Khadafi claimed as part of LYBIA” of course
October 30th, 2007 at 3:58 pmFranchie;
I was going to mention Viet Nam, but thought better of it
October 31st, 2007 at 10:14 amyours or ours ?
Dien Dien Phu was the end of it ; our brave soldiers were abandonned by our screwed old-fashionned politics ; anyway that war should not have occured. Independance should have been given to the Viets 1n 1945 as preconised by General Leclerc ;
unfortunately he died too soon,
and there was the communist fear that your State was pushing up, helping our army with subventions to fight the north viets ; after our defeat in Dien dien Phu you had to replace us because the puppet general you installed in the south could not manage to resolve the communism threat
October 31st, 2007 at 10:48 amWell..both of course.
Basically true on both counts…however, the American defeat in VN was self-inflicted. It was the political left here, in the States, in conjuction with a willing media, that pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. The same tactic is being attempted in the current conflict. FIN
November 1st, 2007 at 1:41 pm