DAR AL HARB / ISLAM - IRAN & FRANCE: CHIRAQ REACHES OUT TO IRAN

Chirac, on his own, reaches out to Iran

PARIS: At a time when most world powers have forged a united front against Iran because of its nuclear program, President Jacques Chirac arranged to send his foreign minister to Tehran to talk about a side issue, then abruptly canceled the visit earlier this month in embarrassing failure.

Chirac's troubles stemmed from his deep desire to help resolve the crisis in Lebanon before his term runs out in May. To that end, he decided to seek the support of Iran, which, along with Syria, backs the radical Shiite organization Hezbollah, three senior French officials said in describing the effort.

So he planned to send Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy to Tehran, only to call off the trip two days before it was to have taken place, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly on diplomatic issues.

Both Douste-Blazy and senior Foreign Ministry officials concluded that such a trip was doomed to fail and that it would send the wrong signal just weeks after the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved sanctions intended to curb Iran's nuclear program, they added.

That put Douste-Blazy in the uncomfortable position of having to tell Chirac that he did not want to go, one senior official said.

"This is not French diplomacy at its best," the official said of the initiative, which was disclosed in the newspaper Le Monde on Tuesday afternoon.

When Douste-Blazy visited Saudi Arabia and Egypt this month, the foreign ministers of both countries also informed him that they strongly opposed any such initiative.

Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, was so determined to stop the visit that he spoke to Douste-Blazy in uncharacteristically blunt terms — "I am going to tell you, do not go" — according to a senior official familiar with the conversation.

The French plan contradicted the Bush administration strategy of trying to isolate and punish Iran. Rather than negotiating with Tehran, the United States is building up American forces in the Persian Gulf, persuading many international businesses to cut off dealings with Iran and trying to curtail Iranian operations in Iraq.

The Bush administration apparently was not consulted in advance about the plan, and Stephen J. Hadley, the Bush administration's national security adviser, protested to Jean-David Levitte, France's ambassador in Washington.

In subsequent communications with R. Nicholas Burns, the under secretary of state for political affairs, and Craig R. Stapleton, the American ambassador to France, the Foreign Ministry gave assurances that it was trying hard to ensure that Douste-Blazy did not travel to Iran.

Iran, meanwhile, has officially expressed its displeasure that the trip was canceled.

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