Turkey warns attack on Iran would be a "disaster"
Published Sunday, February 5, 2012
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"If there is strong political will and mutual confidence being established, this issue could be resolved in a few days," he said. "The technical disputes are not so big. The problem is mutual confidence and strong political will."
Turkey was the venue of the last talks between Western powers and Iran a year ago, which ended in a stalemate because participants could not even agree on an agenda.
Western governments have since imposed much tougher sanctions on Iran, which it suspects of seeking nuclear weapons capability. Iran says its nuclear work is purely civilian and peaceful.
Turkey has a close relationship with many Western states but has become increasingly hostile toward Israel following their attack on a humanitarian flotilla which led to the deaths of nine Turks in May 2010.
Davutoglu added: "A military option will create a disaster in our region. So before that disaster, everybody must be serious in negotiations. We hope soon both sides will meet again but this time there will be a complete result."
In Tehran, the deputy head of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards told the semi-official Fars news agency Iran would attack any country whose territory is used by "enemies" of the Islamic state to launch a military strike against its soil.
Washington and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the standoff. Iran has warned of firm retaliation if attacked, including targeting Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Tension between Iran and the West rose last month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet on Iran to try to force it to provide more information on its nuclear program. A number of countries, including India and Russia, have already indicated they are seeking ways to avoid the sanctions.
(Reuters, Al-Akhbar)
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Local Editor | ||
Commander in the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad Pakpour assured Sunday that “Iran will give a crushing response to any possible enemy aggression,” Fars news agency reported. However, Pakpour pointed out that “Iran will not initiate any war”. Speaking at the beginning of the military drills in Iran's Southern province of Fars, the IRGC ground force commander assured that “Iran will now be the initiator of any war… but our reaction will be fast”. According to the agency, “Iranian officials and commanders have warned that any enemy move, even the slightest aggressions, against the Islamic Republic would be reciprocated with a destructive response and will endanger the interests of the aggressor all around the world.” For their part, Turkey and Qatar advised the West that negotiations and dialogue rather than sanctions would solve the Iranian issue. Turkish foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu assured during the Munich Security Conference on Sunday that sanctions against Iran will not force the Islamic Republic to halt its nuclear program. He stressed that “sanctions were meaningless”, indicating that “the Iranian nuclear issue could be solved within a few days, if there was mutual confidence and a strong political will." In parallel, Qatar's Foreign Affairs Minister Khalid Mohammad Al-Attiyah pointed out that the Western conflict with Iran could only be solved through dialogue, and called on the West to engage in serious negotations with Iran. Also speaking in the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Al-Attiyah warned that “talks about a military option or an increase of sanctions on Iran would only make the scenario worse”.
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