Matthias Küntzel

In fall 2003, according to the latest American intelligence estimate on Iran, Tehran is alleged to have halted its nuclear weapons program "in response to increasing international scrutiny and pressure." But this assertion -- the core finding of the report, from which all its other conclusions follow -- is obviously unfounded. It is not impossible that Tehran in fact suspended its work on nuclear warheads at the time. But it was under no pressure to do so: The "international pressure" of which the NIE speaks did not exist. more

We are involved now in a race against time. Who will prove faster: the engineers building the centrifuges in Iran or the exponents of tougher sanctions in the EU? It depends upon the unity of the EU member states. Sarkozy's initiative would establish the same conditions for companies in all EU countries. How, then, have the others reacted to it? Berlin and Vienna are standing on the frontlines: not however with those who are attempting to avert the catastrophe, but rather with those who are paving the way for it. more