September 18, 2006
DIVIDE AND CONQUER:
Chirac breaks ranks on Iran sanctions (Alec Russell in Washington and Colin Randall in Paris, 19/09/2006, Daily Telegraph)
President Jacques Chirac last night provoked a diplomatic showdown at the UN when he broke ranks with America and its allies and called on them to stop threatening Iran with sanctions.To the barely concealed fury of American and British officials, who have been calling on the UN Security Council to confront Teheran over its nuclear ambitions, Mr Chirac argued for more negotiations.
"I don't believe in a solution without dialogue," he said. He added pointedly that he had never noticed that sanctions had been effective.
Mr Chirac's comments shattered the shaky consensus between America and the EU-3 - Britain, France and Germany - which have been leading the diplomatic negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme.
President Bush should invite Nicholas Sarkozy for a meeting and make it clear that Chirac is a nullity to the West. Posted by Orrin Judd at September 18, 2006 9:53 PM
Now we know why the call them "weasels."
Posted by: Mike Morley at September 19, 2006 6:54 AMSince such reversals by M. Chirac are a leading indicator of financial improprieties, maybe we should start the investigation early and cut short the denouement.
Posted by: Vic Havens at September 19, 2006 8:40 AMWhat's up with this?
I would have expected Chiraq to *support* sanctions so he and his buddies could make billions bypassing them.
The only reason I can see for him opposing them is a large direct payment from Tehran.
Posted by: Ralph Phelan at September 19, 2006 3:51 PMIt's just domestic politics. He's reacting to the fact that Sarkozy is both popular and pro-American.
Posted by: oj at September 19, 2006 3:59 PM