Brussels, 19/01/2005 (Agence Europe) - In an interview in the Financial Times on Wednesday the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw defended the position of the “EU-3” - Germany, France and the United Kingdom in the Iranian nuclear dossier (EUROPE yesterday p 4). According to the newspaper The New Yorker and later denied by the Pentagon, US commandos have been operating in Iranian territory since July 2004, carrying out secret reconnaissance missions on potential nuclear and chemical targets. On Monday, president bush said that he would not exclude military action against Iran if it was not more cooperative about the real nature of its nuclear programme. “Those who said we'd be split apart by the Iranians are wrong,” he said. “Those who said we would not be able to negotiate any substantial text (with the Iranians) are wrong. Those who said we could not build up a degree of trust with the Iranians - at the same time as building up a strong consensus with the US and the non-aligned countries are wrong” affirmed Mr Straw. According to Straw this negotiation had required phenomenal work but up till now things had been positive and it is a better strategy than the alternative - the use of force.
The spokesperson for Hamid Reza Assefi the Iranian minister of foreign affairs, said that Iran would respond with determination to any ill-considered projects by drawing on enormous popular support as well as its diplomatic know-how and military potential.