After recent remarks involving himself directly in Israel’s domestic politics, calling to oust Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced that an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities would be an “absolute catastrophe”.

Addressing a G8 summit in Italy, the French leader insisted that there is no alternative to pursuing a diplomatic channel to resolve the Iranian matter, shunning any discussion of an Israeli military offensive.

Maintaining its defiant position, a senior Iranian official stated earlier that Tehran will not “back down” regarding the nation’s nuclear program, a statement that is in line with similar words of defiance released by Iranian leaders over recent months, in which they exclaimed that Iran has the right to develop its nuclear program and no nation may dictate otherwise. Echoing earlier statements, in its latest round of propaganda statements, the Iranian official insisted the nuclear program is for peaceful means, rejecting Israeli concerns that Tehran is well on the road to the construction of an atom bomb.

In the meantime, the Western nations did not take any major steps against Iran, deciding that if all else fails, stricter sanctions would be imposed if Tehran fails to comply with the demands of the United Nations and international community by September.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)