Military attacks on Iran's nuclear programme could create a "totally destabilising" situation in the region, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Sunday, saying France would instead harden sanctions. "We can still strengthen them (sanctions) to put pressure on Iran and we are going to continue along this path because a military intervention could create a totally destabilising situation in the region," Juppe told Europe 1 radio.
"We must do everything to avoid the irreparable," he said. Last week, President Nicolas Sarkozy criticised what he called Iran's "obsessional desire" to develop nuclear weapons and said France would not stand idly by if Israel were threatened.