France Seeks `Precise Sanctions' Against Iran, Kouchner Says

When the French become worried enough to pass up a dollar, I get worried.
Are the Iranian missiles that powerful and accurate?

France Seeks `Precise Sanctions' Against Iran, Kouchner Says

By Celestine Bohlen

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg) -- France will press for ``precise sanctions'' against Iran in an effort to avoid ``the worst'' which would be ``war,' Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said, speaking in Moscow today.

France wants the European Union to pressure Iran by adopting its own economic sanctions, in addition to measures voted by the United Nations Security Council, Kouchner said.

His latest comments tone down remarks he made in an interview on French television channel LCI over the weekend, saying it was necessary to prepare for a possible war scenario. Those comments had raised concerns that France would approve a military solution to the diplomatic standoff with Iran over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program, and stirred political controversy at home.

``For the minister of foreign affairs to say that one must prepare for war is a heavy event,'' Francois Bayrou, the MoDem party head who ran against Nicolas Sarkozy for president, said in an interview published today in the French newspaper Le Monde. ``It is a situation without precedent, which is not approved by other democracies outside America.''

Kouchner, speaking after meeting his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov today, said France is determined to negotiate a solution with Iran, while also pursuing a more aggressive use of sanctions. Russia won't back new sanctions, Lavrov said after the talks. ``We are very concerned about reports that military action against Iran is being seriously considered,'' he said.

Sarkozy said on Aug. 27 that a nuclear-armed Iran is ``unacceptable,'' adding that escalating sanctions are the only way to avoid what he called a ``catastrophic alternative: an Iranian bomb, or bombing Iran.''

`Pursue Dialogue'

Kouchner, a founder of the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders who was named foreign minister by Sarkozy last May, said France would do everything possible to prevent war.

``To avoid it, you have to pursue dialogue and show great firmness regarding eventual sanctions,'' he said.

The U.S., which has imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran since 1995, has pressed its international allies to cut financial links to the country. A number of European banks, including Zurich-based UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group, have either cut or curtailed their activities in Iran.

The U.N. Security Council adopted two sets of sanctions against Iran, including measures that restrict the travel of individual Iranian officials. The U.S. is trying to rally support for a third round of U.N. sanctions.

Business Ties

Kouchner told reporters on his way to Moscow this week that he believed a new U.N. resolution was unlikely, while several European countries, including Britain and the Netherlands, would support additional sanctions. Approval of all 27 members would be required to put an EU sanctions regime in place.

Iran says it is pursuing a nuclear research program to generate energy. The U.S., France and other countries say the Iranian uranium enrichment program, which Tehran has refused to suspend, can only be used to make a bomb.

Several large French companies have projects in Iran, including Renault SA, which this year started production of its Logan model there, at an expected rate of 300,000 cars a year. Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil producer, owns a 30 percent stake in a liquefied natural gas venture in Iran called Pars LNG. The project is under review, Total said last month.

French banks in 2005 accounted for $5.9 billion of the $25.4 billion loans made to Iran by lenders reporting to the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland.

The French government has not sought to interfere with existing business projects in Iran, although it has asked the nation's companies to refrain from bidding on future projects, two French diplomats said today, asking not to be identified.