If Iran leadership should pull anything, they're in for a very big surprise.
Posted on 01/22/2006 3:51:41 PM PST by Cornpone
TEHRAN, Jan 22, 2006 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac came under attack in Iran Sunday after warning that France could use nuclear arms against state sponsors of terrorism, with officials in the Islamic republic branding the remark "shameful" and "unacceptable".
"It is shameful for the people of France that their president brandishes atomic weapons on the pretext of fighting terrorism," said Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, speaker of Iran's right-wing parliament.
On Thursday, Chirac for the first time raised the threat of a nuclear strike on any state that launches "terrorist" attacks against France.
Although he did not single out any country, the warning could be intrepreted as including Iran -- frequently accused of sponsoring terrorism and under pressure over its disputed nuclear programme.
But Hadad-Adel said the French president was merely "trying to restore the prestige of France after the recent unrest, when young people took to the streets and torched hundreds of cars every night."
"The French need to make an effort to remove the shame of the the massacre of millions of Algerians, France's support for Saddam Hussein and the massacres in Africa and Rwanda," Hadad-Adel said in a speech to deputies carried by state radio.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi, in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA, also branded Chirac's comments as "unacceptable and unjustifiable".
"These statements redouble public concern in countries of the world which face those countries in possession of nuclear weapons," Asefi was quoted as saying.
Iran is currently at loggerheads with France, with Paris at the forefront of Western efforts to prevent the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear technology that could be diverted to making weapons of mass destruction.
France, along with Britain and Germany and backed by the United States, is now leading a push for Iran to be referred to the UN Security Council.
Iran has denounced the mounting pressure, arguing it only wants to generate electricity and that this is a right for any signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
An editorial by the hardline Jomhuri Islami newspaper argued that Chirac's warning was a sign of the double standards Iran has long complained about.
It said Chirac had defied the NPT and calls for nuclear disarmament, and said France "has no right to be a member of world's nuclear club or comment on other countries".
"His remarks mean the French government would use the atomic bomb to oppress the ones who seek liberty," the paper said in a comment that could be seen as alluding to Iran's support for Palestinian militants.
"Everybody knows they label anyone who opposes their exploitative and colonial demands as terrorists, and that any country sheltering such people and supports them is named a supporter of terorists," the paper wrote.
"(Chirac) has unveiled the true face of the West," it said, asking why Iran should "still wait for negotiations" over its own nuclear programme.
Says the country that has been publicly calling for the nuclear incineration of Israel for at least a decade.
These clowns apparently actually think they have some God-given right to conduct terrorist acts without any consequences or anybody having any sort of a right to be unhappy about it.
Well, they picked the right country to pick on. They're probably cranking up the white flag production first thing tomorrow morning.
Hell, I was as surprised as Iran with Chirac! Somebody steal their white flags?
If the Palestinians vote Hamas in as their government, does this mean they are a state sponsoring terrorism?
Geez, the same mistake twice...
"Iran's" fooseball... LOL
You mean to tell me France hasn't surrendered to Iran yet!!!
Well,
Looks like Chirac is on our side now whether he likes it or not.
Reminds me of that short kid that used to hang out with Kid Rock...
I actually think it was a great move by France. The US would side with France any day over these terrorist zealots. They need to understand if you attack the west with WMD you will cease to exist.
The reason France is taking such a hardline with Iran is France knows precisesly what sort of nuclear technology they sold to Iran/Helped them build.
Are you kidding? If we do, I hope it is a "Hurricane Katrina" type of response and it takes weeks to get there. I haven't forgiven the bastards for vandalizing our veterans headstones or screwing us on Iraq.
That's something that's been bothering me to no end for the longest time. They kill our people, fly planes into buildings, threaten us with annihilation, blah, blah, blah, and we're supposed to be worried that we might offend them if we search one of them at the airport or in the subway.
Screw them. Perhaps they should start worrying about whether or not they're offending us.
What are we waiting for? We should have attacked Iran years ago.
Yup. 26 years and two months ago to be exact.
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