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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