AFP
Friday, February 2, 2007

Iran described as "surprising" Friday comments by French President Jacques Chirac, later retracted, assessing as "not very dangerous" the prospect of it having one or two nuclear warheads.

"These comments are surprising at a time when certain European countries are seeking to renew dialogue on the Iranian nuclear file and the International Atomic Energy Agency has never observed any diversion (of materials)," foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told AFP.

Hosseini welcomed the fact that the French president had later withdrawn his comments but added: "We hope that such high-ranking officials will pay more attention to their remarks, particularly in the current climate in the region."

The spokesman reiterated Iran's insistence that its nuclear programme is for civil energy use only.

"The atomic bomb has no place in Iranian military doctrine and Iranian officials have always said that we have no need of a nuclear arsenal, which would run counter to our religion."

Chirac made his comments in an interview Monday with the New York Times, the Paris-based International Herald Tribune and the French weekly Nouvel Observateur that he retracted the following day.

"Having one or perhaps a second bomb a little later, well that's not very dangerous," he said.

"Where would Iran drop this bomb? On Israel? It would not have gone off 200 metres into the atmosphere before Tehran would be razed to the ground."

The Elysee issued a statement Thursday clarifying Chirac's stance and a presidential aide complained of a "shameful polemic" stoked by "certain media across the Atlantic" who are anti-French.

"France, along with the international community, does not accept the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran," said the statement from the presidency.

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