THE French government is threatening Iran with retribution if it does not give up its nuclear energy programme.
The French Prime Minister, De Villepin, one of the main opponents of the US-UK war with Iraq, addressing the Iranian government, said that this time the retribution would be backed by the UN Security Council.
He further warned Iran that the resumption of its ore enrichment programme would spark ‘a major international crisis’ and a forceful response from the UN Security Council.
The French PM said that Iran must abide by a deal with the European Union to suspend its nuclear programme or face UN Security Council action.
‘Iran must honour the commitments it has made. These commitments are the suspending of all activity, conversion, treatment and enrichment of uranium.’
If Tehran refuses, ‘the international community will be forced to draw conclusions.’
Iran on Monday told the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, that it would imminently resume uranium ore conversion, the precursor to enrichment in the nuclear fuel cycle.
Behind the EU (British, French and German) pressure on Iran, stands the United States.
It fears Iran wants to use its nuclear programme to build an atomic bomb.
It is opposed to Iran having any nuclear energy programme.
Combating Saddam Hussein’s non-existent, fictional nuclear programme was one of the reasons given for the US-UK attack on Iraq.
And now the same bogeyman is being used against Iran in order to prepare for UN economic sanctions, and then for military action.
The reason why the US considers Iran to be part of an ‘axis of evil’, is that it is oil rich, has a strategic position in relation to the oil and gas riches of both Central Asia and the Middle East and has a leadership that is determinedly anti imperialist.
Iran has repeatedly stated that it wants a nuclear programme for energy production and is not interested in developing a nuclear weapon.
The Iranians are correct to insist on their right to have a nuclear energy programme.
France itself develops the majority of its electricity from nuclear power stations, and such power stations now exist in all advanced countries.
However, France, the US, Britain and their ally Israel also have large numbers of nuclear bombs.
Britain, France and the US are insisting that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear industry because it may wish to produce a nuclear bomb, while they have thousands of such bombs and are insisting on producing new ones.
As far as they are concerned, it is one law for the imperialists and another for the oppressed nations.
The attitude of the News Line on this issue is crystal clear.
The only reason why North Korea has not been attacked by the US is that it has a number of nuclear weapons. North Korea says that it will give up these weapons if the US will sign a non-aggression pact with it. The US has declined, and intends to attack North Korea when it judges the time to be right.
Iran and all of the oppressed nations have every right to choose to arm themselves with nuclear weaponry to try to prevent an imperialist attack.
In fact, the only way to disarm the imperialist powers of their nuclear weaponry, and to achieve nuclear disarmament, is through organising socialist revolutions in all of the major imperialist states.
Until then, the oppressed nations have the right to possess every weapon that they need for their defence.
