Word: iran
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...Since his election in May 2007, the French President has taken positions on Iran worthy of the most hawkish members of the Bush Administration. In July 2007, he warned that the world would have to force Tehran to abandon its nuclear program, or face a "catastrophic alternative: the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran." And that was just his warm-up. (See the top 10 players in Iran's power struggle...
...Last month, while attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Sarkozy appeared to mock Obama's more temperate and generalized remarks on nuclear proliferation. Nostrils flaring, Sarkozy responded to the U.S. President's remarks by calling Iran's nuclear program the leading threat to international security, which three years of U.N. efforts had not diminished. "What are we going to do about it?" Sarkozy petulantly asked his American counterpart...
...contrast to Obama's cautious comments on Iran's disputed election last June, Sarkozy took a lead in denouncing the regime, declaring that "the people of Iran deserve better than their current leaders." Little wonder, then, that when the opportunity arose, Iranian officials moved to throw France off the diplomatic bus. (See the top 10 Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-isms...
...Sarkozy's trash-talking of Iran has in fact allowed Tehran to use him as a useful whipping boy, projecting toughness and defiance for a domestic audience, while at the same time keep lines of dialogue open with the U.S. And Tuesday's diplomatic slap was more symbolic than substantial. After all, France remains a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, which gives it a seat at the main nuclear talks with Iran. (Those talks began in Geneva on Oct. 1; the Vienna session was a technical meeting on the terms of a processing deal.) Iran isn't refusing...
...Despite the [Iranian] demands, our experts continue to participate in talks as they always have," a French diplomat told TIME on Tuesday. "Tomorrow may be another story - or it might not. Who can tell with Iran...