There was a meeting in New York between the three European ministers and the Iranian authorities at which we reaffirmed our position to the Iranians and heard the position of the Iranian authorities. With that said, as you know, the Iranian president is to address the UN General Assembly tomorrow. Each of us agreed that we will evaluate any eventual proposals made tomorrow, while maintaining strong pressure. Depending on what the proposals are, we'll decide how to respond. As you know, there's a meeting of the IAEA board of governors on Monday, September 19. So things are happening in rapid succession, but the Iranian president's speech tomorrow is an important element that will have to be considered.

Q - Requiring the Iranians to stop converting uranium-is that still on or is there now another interpretation?

We've not changed our position on the fact that it is necessary to comply with the Paris Agreements and comply with the NPT. From this point of view, there's no change in our position.

Q - Yesterday the Iranian president offered to share civilian nuclear technology with other Islamic countries. Is this a violation of the NPT? What comment do you have?

What I can say about this is that so long as one stays within the framework of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and therefore keeps to cooperation that doesn't go beyond the Treaty, each partner may engage in cooperation that remains within this framework. For us, the important thing is compliance with the clauses of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Q - I saw a Russian statement that said that Israel's nuclear arsenal is solely for civilian use. At the same time Israel has the nuclear weapon but no one is talking about it. Why?

The main point in our position vis-à-vis Iran is precisely that we consider that the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is the framework in which civilian nuclear energy can be developed, was not respected. Several Treaty violations have been noted, and Mr. ElBaradei's last report shows that there've been a number of failings. So that's the context-you know what the problem is perfectly well so I'm not going to come back to it-in which dialogue was started between the three Europeans acting on behalf of the international community and Iran.

We've been quite clear about the fact that we have to stay within this framework and that the Iranians must give us guarantees that their program, to which they are entitled, is purely a civilian program that remains within the framework of the NPT.

In the case of Israel, as you know, they're not signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is another problem, and inevitably a source of concern, which means that the negotiation is different, the conditions for negotiation are different.

Q - Of course, I understand that very well, but why don't you compel Israel to follow the same rules? The UN General Assembly is meeting at this time, Mr. Sharon is there, it would be a good opportunity don't you think? Why are people so timid with Israel?

As you know, France is absolutely in favor of the maximum number of countries signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty and takes advantage of very opportunity that presents itself to invite non-signatories to join the group. To the best of my knowledge, a resolution is adopted every year on the denuclearization of the Middle East which definitely proves that we are concerned about the situation.

But don't think that we're not making every effort to invite every country to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. We do invite them to sign and we put it strongly. Moreover, when you sign such a treaty, it's a commitment, and necessarily it entails obligations for the signatories, which is why there's the problem with the Iranians.

Q - You said that in order for there to be cooperation on civilian nuclear power, non-signatories must sign the NPT. Is that correct?

What I said was that if there was to be cooperation among several states, then it had to remain within the context of the Treaty for the party engaging in cooperation if that party is a signatory of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Q - With respect, I'd like to point out a contradiction. Two days ago, the Indian prime minister discussed civilian nuclear cooperation with President Chirac. India is not a signatory to the NPT. How do you reconcile the tough position vis-à-vis Iran and the tolerant and cooperative position with another country which is not a signatory and with which nuclear cooperation is being considered?

Actually, as we said right here, we began by discussing this question with the Indians. To date, there has been no advanced nuclear cooperation with the Indians. It's the start of discussions.

In the context of this discussion, the question of non-proliferation will be a key issue, and obviously as the Indians at this point are not signatories to the Treaty, we'll be looking at cooperation with them, keeping in mind this limitation in our talks.

But a discussion has also been started with other states and, as you know, everyone will be very vigilant as to the consequences of this cooperation, but it hasn't yet started in real terms.