EC DOES NOT PLAN STATEMENT ON U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN
The European Community (EC) will not
issue a joint statement on the U.S. Attack on Iran for now,
diplomats said.
    They said the latest events in the Gulf were discussed only
briefly by foreign ministers over lunch, though member states
had been informed by Washington that it was planning military
action. "They didn't have enough information to discuss it fully
and they wouldn't have agreed anyway," one diplomat said.
    Belgian Foreign Minister Leo Tindemans said Belgium had
always opposed an extension of violence in the Gulf and deeply
regretted that the situation had deteriorated.
    But British Foreign Secretary Sir Geoffrey Howe said the
United States was fully entitled to take military action and
Francisco Fernandez Ordonez of Spain said the U.S. Strike could
be considered an af self-defence.
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