After Ahmadinejad’s declarations on Israel, the resumption of nuclear research in Iran is arousing alarm in various European countries, especially in Germany and France. This is what Cristiane Hoffmann writes in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (12/1): “The arrogance with which Iran has resumed its research activities for the enrichment of uranium in its nuclear facility at Natanz leads to the presumption that Iran is convinced that this second violation of the accord reached in November 2004… on the suspension of the Iranian nuclear programme will remain without consequences, just like the first violation, the resumption of the conversion in August; or that Iran is ready to accept a further deterioration of its relations with Europe, the total interruption of negotiations and a referral to the UN Security Council. All the official declarations coming out of Teheran indicate that the Iranian leadership is determined to pursue its tactic of wresting ever greater concessions from the West through a resumption of its nuclear programme subdivided into small incremental steps“. Writing in the sister paper, the Frankfurter Rundschau (11/1), Karl Grobe comments: “Iran resumes some atomic programmes. But the head of the programmes, Mohammad Said, has given his assurance -, the production of nuclear fuel remains suspended. Two men more powerful than Saidi do not intend, however, to renounce in any case the production of fuel with its implicit military components”: namely, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ali Akbar Rafsanjani. If the representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can only stand by and watch as the seals are removed at the nuclear facilities of Isfahan and Natanz, that does not mean that the observers are happy and satisfied. There exists, indeed, more evidence of a nuclear armament of Iran that there was evidence even trumped up of a similar Iraqi programme over the last fifteen years”. “Why Iran is gambling with nuclear fire” is the headline in La Croix (12/01). “The Iranian decision to resume its production of enriched uranium comments the French Catholic daily arouses strong reactions in the USA and in the European Union: both fear that Teheran is trying to arm itself with nuclear weapons”. In his report Jean- Christophe Ploquin emphasises some considerations linked to international fears of a nuclear escalation: “The Western countries note that Teheran has concealed for many years a secret nuclear facility created in parallel with that of Bouchehr. Iran has also purchased tons of uranium and equipped itself with centrifuges close to its frontier with Pakistan … If these facilities were to function at full capacity, the country could be able to manufacture an atomic bomb within two to five years, say the experts”. According to La Croix, apart from possible economic sanctions, the UNO “by having recourse to Chapter 7 of the UN Charter could even authorise the use of force against Iran”. This hypothesis is however judged risky: “A military operation – concludes La Croix could undoubtedly slow down the Iranian programme, but it would also cause a sharp growth in tension throughout the region. According to some observers, this strategy ought at the same time to aim at the fall of the regime in Teheran”. The arrest of presumed terrorists of Al Qaeda in Spain is given wide coverage in all the Spanish dailies of 11/01. “New blow struck against Al Qaeda cells in Spain” ( Abc); “ The network that sent the kamikaze to Iraq that killed 19 Italians dismantled” ( El Paìs ); “Police and civil guard arrest 20 presumed Islamic fundamentalists engaged in sending terrorists to Iraq” ( La Razòn); “Islamic cells sent kamikaze from Catalonia to Iraq” ( La Vanguardia); “The police break up two cells in Catalonia that sent terrorists to Iraq”. In its editorial with the title “ Anti-terrorist success” the daily La Vanguardia says that “the progress being made in political, judicial and intelligence coordination, as well as investments in technical and human resources, have led to the result of some 220 persons being arrested in Spain in 2004 because in some way linked to this type of terrorism”. The daily however urges that “any kind of confusion between this threat and the civic conduct of the Muslim communities in Spain be avoided”. “After Sharon” is the cover headline in The Economist (07/01) dedicated to the situation in Israel: “The death or exit from the scene of Israel’s super-hawk obscures the hopes for peace. It would be wrong to think that if Sharon had not had a stroke, Israel would have inexorably marched towards peace with the Palestinians”. The policy pursued by Sharon is judged “ tough but courageous”: “Only hawks can make peace”, even though, the editorial notes, a sudden escalation of violence, which could involve the extremists on both sides, is quite possible”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1442 N.ro relativo : 2 Data pubblicazione : 13/01/2006
