'There is no military solution to Iran's nuclear programme,' French ambassador tells Sky News
France's ambassador to the United Kingdom has told Sky News that there is no military solution to eliminating Iran's nuclear programme, and called for de-escalation and a return to negotiations.
Speaking to our political editor Beth Rigby, Helene Duchene said France is "very concerned" about Iran's nuclear programme, but argued that negotiation is the path forward rather than the risk of broader regional instability.
She said: "The message we have is that we are, of course, very concerned by the Iranian nuclear programme. It's a serious threat to our security interests, to the security interests of the region. We see that for long since this programme has been discovered in 2003.
"But, we don't think that there is a military solution for eliminating this nuclear programme because, you know, even destroying [Iran's] Fordow [facility] would maybe delay, degrade the programme."
Duchene also argued that destroying that facility - that only the Americans have the weaponry to achieve - would come with an "important risk at the nuclear level with contamination, proliferation and enormous risk on destabilisation of this region".
"So our message is that the good thing to do is de-escalate and negotiate because it's the way we can find a solution," she added.
'There is another solution'
She was then asked how hopeful she is that her government and others will be able to persuade President Trump to not strike and instead negotiate with Iran.
The ambassador replied that they have to "take the initiative" and "create a dynamic" to make the point that there is "another solution" to the danger of Iran's nuclear programme "that we can achieve with negotiation".
She would like to see a "strong agreement which is going to help reduce the capabilities" and leave Iran with a nuclear programme that is "limited", can be "verified", and "that will bring the real de-escalation".
Tomorrow's talks in Geneva tomorrow being held by the French, German, and British foreign ministers with their Iranian counterpart are a "way to show that there is another way to go than a military strike".