 BERLIN — German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said in comments released yesterday that he was satisfied the US has no intention of attacking Iran in the standoff over the country's nuclear programme.
During a European tour this week that included a meeting in Germany with Schroeder, US President George W. Bush addressed worries in Europe and the Middle East about the US stance. Bush said it is "simply ridiculous" to say the US is preparing a strike on Iran. "He said the words 'Iran is not Iraq' deliberately — no one, and that includes the American government, is thinking of military action against Teheran," Schroeder said in an interview with the weekly Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.
| We've got other irons in the fire, not that we're telling you what they are. |
However, the newspaper quoted Schroeder as saying he had made clear to Bush that Germany would not participate in any possible military action. Schroeder was one of the leading opponents of the US-led war in Iraq two years ago. |