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Britain rules out military action

Hasan Suroor

LONDON: Britain has ruled out military action against Iran over its nuclear programme and sought to dismiss veiled American threats as routine pressure tactics.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw told the BBC on Friday, "nobody is talking about invading Iran'' and that "Iran is not Iraq''.

Significantly, he also said there was no "categorical evidence'' to suggest that Iran planned to use its nuclear technology for military purposes. But there was "suspicion'' that it might do so, and hence the anxiety over its decision to break the seals on a nuclear site near Nantanz.

About the U.S. administration's stated position that all options were open, Mr Straw said: "No American President ever rules out options and that's just the way they are.''

He added that he never had "a single discussion'' with anyone in the Bush administration about possible military action.

"No Iraq analogy"

Mr Straw pointed out that Iran was not in the same category as Iraq, which he said, "incontrovertibly'' had had a chemical and biological and nuclear weapons programme and had invaded its neighbours.

"Now in the case of Iran, although we have a real problem with Iran it has not invaded any of its neighbours, it has not launched missile attacks against any of its neighbours, and nor so far as the nuclear weapon programme is concerned, do we have categorical evidence that it is developing a nuclear weapon".

His remarks came a day after the Foreign Ministers of Britain, France and Germany met in Berlin to demand an emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency and called for Iran to be referred to the U.N. Security Council for action.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Iran's latest move in the long-running controversy over its nuclear programme was "very serious indeed'' and caused "alarm'' in the international community.

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