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FCO: Britain is not pushing for military action against Iran
22/03/2006
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The full text of a A letter from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Director of Communications to the Edtior of The Times on The Times article, " Britain Pushes For Military Option To Restrain Tehran" .
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Dear Sir
There is no foundation for your headline that Britain is pushing for military action against Iran, nor for the claim in Richard Beeston's story that we are hardening our position. The only basis for these assertions seems to be that we favour a Security Council resolution under Chapter Seven of the UN Charter. Chapter Seven is not synonymous with the use of force. This year (to 20 March) there have been 10 Security Council resolutions, 5 of which were under Chapter Seven. None authorised or advocated the use of force.
The Foreign Secretary set out our approach on Iran to the House on 7 February: "if we end up with a report to the Security Council … the first stage will be a Security Council resolution exerting its authority in support of International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA] processes. … if those steps fail, extensive discussions will have to take place with our partners on whether Article 41 measures would be appropriate." Article 41 is the part of Chapter Seven which authorises mandatory measures not involving the use of force.
Our strategy is to use the authority of the Security Council to increase the pressure on Iran to meet the IAEA's requirements. If Iran refuses to take the necessary steps, then the Security Council will have to consider Chapter Seven resolutions. That does not change our approach to the use of force, which the Foreign Secretary has made clear is not on the agenda.
John Williams
Director of Communications
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
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