Congress condemns any move to attack Iran

Congress, in a statement, said, 8220;Any threat of unilateral military action by any power against Iran deserves to be condemned in the strongest possible terms,8221; adding that the Indian and Iran civilisations share links dating back to thousands of years. 8220;There are no military solutions to the complex geo-political issues and problems that afflict the West Asian region,8221; the party said. However, the CPM statement was critical of the Government8217;s stand saying, 8220;The grave concern expressed by the Government about the statements of Israel and the United States threatening military action against Iran is timely. While the Ministry of External Affairs has taken note of the imminent threat of military attack by Israel and the United States on Iran, this concern would have been credible only if the UPA Government had not helped Israel8217;s military capabilities.8221;

There have been reports in the British media that US President George W Bush has given Israel the go-ahead to begin preparations for an attack on Iran if talks over Tehran8217;s nuclear programme failed to yield results.

The statement further said that the Congress 8220;reiterates its belief that dialogue and discourse on a bilateral basis and through the use of multilateral fora such as the United Nations are the only viable mechanisms for resolving the issues and talks of military options and preemptive strikes should be avoided by all parties to avoid vitiating the atmosphere for such a dialogue.8221;

The CPM, however, said,8221;In January this year, ISRO had launched the Israeli spy satellite TecSar. This advanced satellite produced by Israel and the United States jointly is being used to conduct surveillance of Iran. If there is a military attack by Israel on Iran, the TecSar facilities will be invaluable,8221; adding that, 8220;If the Manmohan Singh government is really concerned about the military attack on Iran, it should forthwith cancel the launch of two more satellites in this series. It should forthwith stop all military collaboration with Israel.8221;

On Monday, the Ministry of External Affairs had said in an official statement that India was 8220;gravely concerned8221; at these statements threatening the use of military force against Iran. The MEA spokesperson had said that India is against any such military attack, which constitutes 8220;unacceptable international behavior8221;. 8220;There is no military solution to the issues that are being discussed between Iran and the international community. India continues to support negotiations and diplomacy, rather than the threat or use of force,8221; the MEA had said, adding that a military strike on Iran would have disastrous consequences for the entire region.