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Q. - Let's be clear this morning: if no civilian programme justifies Iran's current programme, that means there's a clandestine military programme going on in Iran.

THE MINISTER - It's the question Mr ElBaradei is asking, since for 18 years the Iranian authorities were developing, in secret, a fissile material production programme. And the Agency [IAEA] has highlighted a number of elements which it itself says could have a military nuclear dimension, and so we, the Security Council, are asking Iran for total, not partial, cooperation with the Agency.

Q. - Do we agree, this morning, that sanctions appear inevitable?

THE MINISTER - The Security Council must first of all strengthen the authority of the process the Agency has set in train, and if Tehran doesn't take the necessary decisions, the United Nations Security Council will then have to take the necessary measures to do this. Sanctions are among the instruments available to it. As President Chirac said yesterday, we continue to prefer a negotiated solution to this issue. We're saying to the Iranians, "see reason, everything is reversible". The goal is a diplomatic solution and Iran's compliance with her international obligations, the demands of the Agency and the Security Council, since if she doesn't comply, the Security Council will indeed face up to its responsibilities.

Q. - But we really get the feeling that the Iranians aren't very fazed by the threats of sanctions. How do you assess the threats coming from the United States - the possibility of moving to military strikes - even if President Bush denies them. Several American newspapers are reporting US military plans along these lines.

THE MINISTER - They are absolutely not on the agenda. We are on the Security Council. We have always believed in multilateralism. We believe in the UN. That's the forum in which we have to talk about it, not in some inner sanctum somewhere. What's important is for us to recognize Iran's right to nuclear power generation, but for civilian and peaceful purposes. We have told them we could work with them on this, provided it isn't for military reasons.

And so we've made proposals, on trade agreements, on the technology front and on a political and security dialogue. If the Iranian authorities respond positively, fine, there can be ambitious cooperation. If they don't, once again, the Security Council will face up to its responsibilities.

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