John Bolton, the US undersecretary of state for arms control, publicly criticized Germany this weekend for maintaining economic ties with Iran, a country Washington believes is secretly pursuing nuclear weapons. His criticism appeared in the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag.
Germany was Iran's largest single source of direct foreign investment in 2003, totaling 270 million dollars, and a German trade delegation visited Tehran just days before Bolton's remarks were published. Bolton stated that military action against Iran was not currently planned, though no options had been taken off the table.
Washington wants the IAEA to refer Iran to the UN Security Council in November over alleged uranium enrichment for weapons purposes. Iran rejects the accusation and claims its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.