MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iran

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 003677 SIPDIS DEPT FOR INR/R/MR; IIP/RW; IIP/RNY; BBG/VOA; IIP/WEU; AF/PA; EUR/WE /P/SP; D/C (MCCOO); EUR/PA; INR/P; INR/EUC; PM; OSC ISA FOR ILN; NEA; WHITE HOUSE FOR NSC/WEUROPE; DOC FOR ITA/EUR/FR AND PASS USTR/PA; USINCEUR FOR PAO; NATO/PA; MOSCOW/PA; ROME/PA. E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR FR SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION REPORT - Iran PARIS - Friday, June 02, 2006 (A) SUBJECTS COVERED IN TODAY'S REPORT: Iran B) SUMMARY OF COVERAGE: Domestic politics, with Presidential hopeful Segolene Royal on most front pages, lead today's news. Her program to curb delinquency in troubled neighborhoods and schools has elicited much criticism, both from her Socialist Party colleagues and from the right, which accuses her of hunting in Sarkozy's grounds. Iran and the Vienna meeting are today's major international story with positive reactions to the U.S. offer of talks with Iran. Le Figaro titles a small front page item: "Nuclear: Iran Alone Against the World." Inside, Maurin Picard's article is entitled "The World Sticks Together Against Tehran" while in Liberation's "Between Washington and Tehran, It Is A Fool's Game" Pascal Riche reports that "Iran has rejected the conditional offer for dialogue made by Washington." Riche voices the opinion that "most analysts, who consider Bush's maneuver to be preparations for more economic sanctions." But in Le Figaro political analyst Pierre Rousselin titles his column: "The West Has Finally Adopted a Strategy Against Iran's Nuclear Challenge." (See Part C) Le Parisien interviews Therese Delpeche, researcher at the Center for International Studies and Research (CERI),who says: "The U.S. initiative is a major surprise, which shows that the Department of State is in the lead, not the Pentagon. Iran's initial response is regrettable. Let us hope it will evolve... Iran's nuclear program makes sense only if it has military ambitions, and no sense if it is strictly commercial... The ball is now in Iran's camp... The U.S. offer demonstrates that everything was done to avoid a confrontation, even if a strike, in the event Tehran rejects the offer, is neither inevitable nor impossible." (C) SUPPORTING TEXT/BLOCK QUOTES: Iran "The World Sticks Together Against Tehran" Maurin Picard in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/02): "After three years of fruitless negotiations, the recent intense diplomatic agitation seems to signal hope that the crisis is at a turning point... A previous offer was rejected by Iran because it was missing a commitment from the U.S. This was crucial for Tehran, which was looking for assurance that Washington would not try to topple the Islamic regime. With Washington announcing that it would take part in the negotiations, the tables have been turned. This is indeed a historic opening after 26 years of conflict. The Russians, the Chinese and the Europeans have saluted this unprecedented gesture. But Iran, after having shown signs of softening, is again adopting a harsh stance, saying 'it will not discuss its legitimate and unalienable rights.'" "Between Washington and Tehran, It Is A Fool's Game" Pascal Riche in left-of-center Liberation (06/02): "Europe applauded as one the American decision to play the multilateral game. Yet Iran has not made a gesture to take the extended hand, saying that while it is open to dialogue with America, it rejects preset conditions. And so the question remains: will the American initiative succeed? In the U.S., few believe it will. Most American analysts believe the maneuver is not so much intended to soften Iran as to prepare for new economic sanctions. President Bush has no other choice, to implement such sanctions, than to prove to his European allies, Russia and China, that Iran has no intention of making any effort... Washington's 'hawks' do not much like the idea of talking with a nation which supports terrorism, wants to dominate the Middle East and destroy Israel. But this time they have not interfered, believing there is little chance the offer will work... President Bush's priority is to avoid finding himself stuck between the Charybdis of a nuclear Iran and the Scylla a new military intervention... In order to save himself from having to choose between two impossible choices, the President asked his Secretary of State to 'think about a third option,' the first phase having begun yesterday in Vienna." "The West Has Finally Adopted a Strategy Against Iran's Nuclear Challenge" Pierre Rousselin in right-of-center Le Figaro (06/02): "Understanding that he was engaged in a sterile attitude, President Bush has made an opening to Iran... This spectacular gesture, which the Europeans have been asking for, puts the ball in Iran's camp: if rejected, Iran will have to explain. This is essential, because from the start of the crisis, Iran has been scoring points in public opinions in the region, where the U.S. is seen as a troublemaker, especially after the war in Iraq... But the final objective of the negotiations has yet to be defined. Herein lies the biggest unknown, which in turn will guide the outcome of the crisis. The West wants an assurance that Iran will not acquire the bomb; but the Iranians are slightly more ambivalent and the bartering they have in mind will go beyond the nuclear issues... But Condoleezza Rice has made it clear that her offer is limited to the nuclear question. Her offer is nevertheless the result of five years of intense debate within the Bush administration... The western offer to Iran is gaining in subtlety. If negotiations begin, these would be similar to those the U.S. held with North Korea, alongside South Korea, Beijing and Moscow. Considering the seriousness of the Iranian challenge, all diplomatic means must be exploited to put an end to Iran's blackmail." STAPLETON