Paris – Accusing Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, French President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested tougher sanctions against the Mideast nation Thursday over its refusal to suspend nuclear activities.
Sarkozy, who has toughened the French position on Iran since taking office in May, called the possibility of an Iranian bomb “unacceptable.” Sarkozy was expected to discuss sanctions with other world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly next week. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, meanwhile, was in Washington to meet with senior U.S. officials – and to discuss Iran, among other joint concerns.
If current sanctions are not sufficient, Sarkozy said, “I want stronger sanctions,” he said in a televised interview. But he insisted that France does not want to see tensions lead to war.
The United States and other world powers suspect Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists it only wants nuclear technology to produce electricity. Two rounds of U.N. sanctions have failed to end the deadlock.
Sarkozy’s spokesman, David Martinon, said earlier Thursday that France wants European companies to be told not to seek new markets and to reduce their investments in Iran.
In Iran on Thursday, Iranian air force pilots made successful test flights in two of Iran’s new domestically manufactured fighter jets, the official Islamic Republic News Agency said.
Also Thursday, Iran’s official news agency, IRNA, reported that Iran released an Iranian-American democracy scholar who spent four months in prison – the third time in recent weeks Tehran has set free dual citizens it accuses of trying to stir up a revolution.
Kian Taj bakhsh, an urban planning consultant with the Soros Foundation’s Open Society Institute, was released late Wednesday.
