Free Republic

PARIS (EJP)--- Following complaints from the Jewish community, French foreign minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has retracted a controversial statement where he claimed Iran “played a stabilising role” in the Middle-East. Speaking on the Jewish Community Radio station on Wednesday, Douste-Blazy said Iran had “a part of responsibility in the current conflict” between Israel and Hezbollah and that it had “to help pacify the region”.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy branded Iran's nuclear programme for the first time Thursday as a "clandestine, military" project. "It's very simple: no civilian nuclear programme can explain Iran's nuclear programme," he told France 2 television in an interview, two days after Tehran confirmed it was resuming sensitive uranium enrichment work. "Therefore it's a clandestine military nuclear programme."

PARIS (Reuters) - France's new foreign minister pledged in comments published on Monday to press on with recent efforts to improve relations with the United States after the chill caused by the Iraq war. In a wide-ranging interview with Le Figaro newspaper, Philippe Douste-Blazy signalled no major change in foreign policy following his appointment on June 3, despite French voters' rejection of the European Union constitution on May 29. Relations with Washington became strained when Dominique de Villepin, who is now France's prime minister, led opposition to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. But ties began improving under Douste-Blazy's...