TMCnet News
NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL: No strike on Iran - Straw(The Birmingham Post Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Foreign Secretary Jack Straw dismissed reports of a possible United States nuclear strike against Iran as "completely nuts". He was commenting on an article in today's New Yorker magazine claiming that the US has drawn up secret plans to attack facilities in Iran if necessary. The article, by investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, suggests that the Pentagon is even considering the possibility of a nuclear strike. Meanwhile, The Sunday Times reported leading neo-conservative Richard Perle as saying that an attack could be "over before anybody knew what had happened. The only question then would be what the Iranians might do in retaliation". However, Mr Straw branded Mr Perle as "a rather unreliable reporter on what happens in the administration". And he added: "The idea of a nuclear strike on Iran is completely nuts." Mr Straw - who has said that military action against Iran is "inconceivable" - added: "I have made clear the British Government's position on this time and time again, which is widely shared across Europe. "The American administration, Condoleezza Rice, President Bush use slightly different language. "They are very committed indeed to resolving this issue - it is a complicated issue - by negotiation and, yes, by diplomatic pressure. "And what the Iranians have to do is to recognise that they have overplayed their hand at each stage." Mr Straw stressed the UK would not launch a preemptive strike on Iran, adding that he was as "certain as he could be" that neither would the US. There was "no smoking gun" and therefore no justification for military action, he said. The Foreign Secretary added: "The reason why we're opposed to military action is because it's an infinitely worse option and there's no justification for it." He said the current evidence added up to the "high suspicion" that Iran was developing a civil nuclear capability which in turn could be used for nuclear weapons. "But, let's be clear, there is no smoking gun, there is no cassus belli. We can't be certain about Iran's intentions, and that is therefore not a basis of which anybody would gain authority to go into military action." He said that he and Condoleezza Rice had publicly accepted that there was a "difference of emphasis" between the UK and US government's on Iran. But he added: "As far as the United States is concerned, Condoleezza Rice and President Bush say military action is not on the agenda but they don't rule out any option in theory about their position." A team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts is in Iran inspecting uranium enrichment and reprocessing plants - a visit Iran hopes will prove its nuclear intentions are peaceful. Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the IAEA, will also visit the country this week in a bid to secure concessions from its hardline government on its atomic programme. The UN Security Council demanded on March 29 that Iran suspend enrichment and asked the IAEA to report back in 30 days on whether it had complied. |