On his address to the ambassadors on August 27, President Sarkozy emphasized what had to be done to avoid being confronted with the alternative: "The Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran," an alternative he characterized as "catastrophic."

That's what the minister reiterated on September 16 when he explained that the only way to avoid this alternative was to persuade the Iranians to comply with their international obligations as set out by the IAEA governing board and Security Council.

The minister recalled that in order to convince the Iranians of the need for this step, the European approach had consisted since 2003 of offering them the prospect of very ambitious cooperation in exchange for the suspension of their illegal activities. The Europeans were joined by the United States, Russia and China. When the offer was rejected, the Six decided to establish sanctions while maintaining their offer. The aim is to maintain dialogue at all cost.

In spite of a few recent overtures with respect to the IAEA, Iran persists in not honoring its international obligations; it is not suspending enrichment-related activities; it is not implementing the IAEA additional protocol. So we have no other choice, in accordance with resolution 1747, than to propose a new resolution on sanctions in the Security Council. This will be one of the issues that the minister will address in New York next week when he meets his colleagues from the E3+3.

Parallel to these negotiations in New York, France considers the European Union should study the measures to be taken with regard to Iran so that it honors its international obligations. This question will be taken up by France with all its European Union partners.