Friends of Humanity was one of the sponsers of the Paris Nuclear Conference.

ImageSeptember 22 – Nuclear experts and political dignitaries on Tuesday joined together in a conference in Paris to raise alarm over the threat of Iran’s suspected nuclear program and discussed various ways of dealing with a full-blown crisis.

Speakers in the conference included several former prime ministers and ministers, as well as top nuclear experts. Renowned French philosopher André Glucksmann warned that an Iranian nuclear bomb represented the most serious threat to global peace and security since the Cold War. 

Bruno Tertrais, director of defense studies in France’s prestigious Foundation for Strategic Research, said that there were clear indications backing the claim that Iran’s nuclear program is intended to produce a bomb.  

Georges Le Guelte, director of research at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), said it was time for Tehran’s nuclear dossier to be hauled before the United Nations Security Council.

France’s former Prime Minister Edith Cresson said Iran’s bid to acquire nuclear weapons must be seen in the context of the growing radicalization of the Islamic state. She said the West must act united and with firmness, before it would be too late. Cresson said the West must stand on the side of the Iranian people, who seek to change the current regime.

The vice-Chairman of the French Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee and a former cabinet minister, François Loncle, said that it was not good enough to simply refer Tehran to the Security Council and called for further action to ensure that the Iranian government would face consequences for the resumption of its suspended nuclear activities.

His comments were endorsed by Claude Goasguen, a prominent member of the French parliament from President Jacques Chirac’s ruling UMP party, who said there was a clear need to support the political option in a resolute and creative way.

“There is no doubt that the radical Islamic regime in Iran today is the biggest threat on the global scene,” Goasguen said.

Frédéric Encel, a professor of geopolitics in Paris universities, said that he was convinced from Tehran’s recent activities and stances that it was pursuing a non-peaceful nuclear program.

Among the panelists calling for a fundamental change in policy vis-à-vis Tehran was Raymond Tanter, a founding member of the Washington-based Iran Policy Committee and a former staff member of the U.S. National Security Council. Tanter told the conference that the West would never be safe from the threat of nuclear-armed ayatollahs, unless it opted for the “regime change option.” He outlined a plan for “coercive diplomacy,” which included support for the Iranian opposition. 

Sid-Ahmed Ghozali, the former Algerian Prime Minister, called for a united front in dealing with Tehran’s nuclear menace.