Olmert, Sarkozy see eye-to-eye on Iran
PARIS (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that France and Israel share "identical" views on the threat posed by Iran's nuclear programme following talks in Paris with President Nicolas Sarkozy.
"I couldn't have heard on the Iranian issue things that could more fall in line with my expectations," Olmert told reporters after his 90-minute meeting with Sarkozy.
The talks were "excellent and extremely frank and show an impressive level of similar views, even identical views, on parts of the issues on the agenda," said Olmert.
Olmert and Sarkozy held one-on-one talks at the Elysee presidential palace followed by a working lunch. Sarkozy then accompanied the Israeli leader to his limousine and hugged him warmly before he sped off to meet with Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
Olmert was looking for strong support for efforts to halt Iran's uranium enrichment, which the Jewish state and the West believe is aimed at developing an atomic bomb, a claim denied by Tehran.
He said that they did not discuss military action to stop Iran's nuclear programme, focusing instead on the need for tougher sanctions.
"We focused on how to succeed on a wide range of actions that are not necessarily extremes," Olmert said, adding: "I believe we can succeed with them," referring to sanctions.
France has considerably toughened its position on Iran since Sarkozy was elected five months ago and has called for new sanctions. The UN Security Council plans to discuss the matter before the end of the year.
French presidential spokesman David Martinon echoed the Israeli prime minister's upbeat assessment of the meeting, the first between the two leaders since Sarkozy took office in May.
"Israel and France share the view that the Iranian nuclear programme must be implemented with the greatest transparency and for peaceful ends," Martinon said.
"A nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable for France and for Israel," he said.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner angered Tehran last month when he said the world had to prepare for war over Iran's atomic drive, and has been pushing fellow European states to adopt their own sanctions.
In his first major foreign policy speech, Sarkozy singled out Iran as the world's most dangerous problem and said a diplomatic push was needed to avoid "the Iranian bomb or the bombing of Iran."
Widely considered the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed nation, Israel considers Iran its chief enemy after repeated statements from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.
Sarkozy also told Olmert that he was "ready to help" ensure the success of the meeting, noting that "once Israel's security is guaranteed", it will be possible to "show creativity" and "make a gesture" for peace, the spokesman added, without elaborating.
Olmert, who arrived in Paris on Sunday, quoted the French president as telling him that "Israel's security is not an issue for negotiations."
The Israeli leader was to travel to London for a meeting on Tuesday with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who took office in June. He is also to hold a last-minute meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in London.
Olmert's visit could usher in a major shift as France appears poised to replace Britain as Israel's closest European ally, given Brown's apparent attempt to distance himself from the fraught world of Middle East diplomacy.
Israel has also welcomed the tough lines Sarkozy has adopted against the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah militia, with which the Jewish state fought a devastating war last year.
Olmert earlier visited a plaque set up by Paris city authorities in a park showing support for the three Israeli soldiers kidnapped by the Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian Hamas hardline groups.
His visit to Paris followed talks in Moscow on Thursday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited Tehran last week.
At a meeting of his cabinet on Sunday, Olmert said he was reassured by his meeting with Putin and was looking forward to strengthening the international campaign calling for Iran to halt its nuclear programme.
