Iran Rejects French Warning of Israeli Strike Risk
REUTERS: TEHRAN - Iran dismissed on Saturday a warning by France's president that the Islamic Republic was taking a dangerous gamble over its nuclear program because one day its arch-foe Israel could strike.

Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham accused Israel of threatening global peace but reiterated Tehran's publicly stated view that it was not in a position to attack Iran.

Western powers accuse Iran, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, of seeking the atom bomb under the cover of a civilian nuclear program. Iran denies the charge, saying it only wants to master atomic technology in order to generate electricity.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if the dispute cannot be settled through diplomacy.

During a visit to Damascus on Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Iran was "taking a major risk in continuing the process to obtain a military nuclear capacity." He added: "One day ... we could find one morning that Israel has struck."

Iran's state broadcaster IRIB quoted Elham, the government spokesman, as saying in response to Sarkozy's statement:
"These threats are because of weakness ... and it reflects the reality and the war-seeking nature of the Zionist regime." Iran Rejects French Warning of Israeli Strike Risk >>> | September 6, 2008

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MPs Reject Call for EU Membership Referendum
Photo of EU flags courtesy of The Guardian
THE GUARDIAN: MPs voted today overwhelmingly against the idea of having a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.

Labour and the Conservatives joined forces to vote down the Liberal Democrat proposal, which was rejected in the Commons by 471 votes to 68, a majority of 403.

William Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, claimed the Lib Dem proposal was a "fig leaf", designed to disguise the fact that Nick Clegg's party was breaking a promise it made at the last election to support a referendum on the proposed EU constitution.

Today's vote was on a technical motion, and a Lib Dem win would not automatically have led to the holding of a referendum on Britain's EU membership.

But their defeat means that the issue is highly unlikely to be put to a vote again while the European Union (amendment) bill, the legislation ratifying the Lisbon treaty, goes through parliament. MPs reject call for EU membership referendum >>> By Andrew Sparrow, senior political correspondent | Tuesday March 4 2008

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