UNITED NATIONS — As world leaders converged at the United Nations on Monday, French President Jacques Chirac dealt a significant blow to the Bush administration's effort to slow Iran's nuclear development, saying his government would join Russia and China in resisting the U.S. push for sanctions against Tehran.
"I am never in favor of sanctions," Chirac told Europe 1 radio on the eve of the General Assembly's annual debate. "I have never observed that sanctions were very effective."
Chirac proposed a compromise in which the Security Council would suspend the threat of sanctions and Iran would suspend enrichment of uranium while the two sides talked. As a last resort, after diplomacy had been exhausted, France might consider penalties, he said, but only "moderate and adapted" ones.
The division over sanctions seems likely not only to complicate policy on Iran, but also to affect the administration's efforts to win international help on a range of other issues, diplomats and analysts say.
Bush plans to make Iran a centerpiece of his address to the General Assembly today, explaining why he considers the regime in Tehran a grave threat and insisting that sanctions be imposed if negotiations fail.
He will also talk about the administration's Iraq policies and its support for a peacekeeping mission in the Darfur region of Sudan in the face of opposition from the Sudanese government.
But on both issues, Washington finds itself on the opposite side from several Security Council members, including Russia and China, both of which have veto power on the council. In the Sudan case, the two nations, backed by other council members such as Qatar, insist that the U.N. must not intervene in a nation without its government's permission, even when the international community does not agree with the country's actions.
The change of heart by France means three of the five veto-holding members of the Security Council now oppose the U.S. stance on Iran.
"As preceding the Iraq war, Chirac's public comments are unfortunate, because France is a very powerful player," said Judith Kipper, a Middle East expert at the Council on Foreign Relations.
"It could encourage the Iranians and countries that are anti-American to believe that the United States is isolated. And if President Bush believes that there is no cooperation from the Security Council, it may encourage him to believe the only option is to strike Iran."
