Head of French military concerns about Iran too

The leader of France's armed forces said Friday that Iran presents a "major worry" and accused its Islamic regime of trying to obtain nuclear weapons. Gen. Henri Bentegeat, speaking a day after President Jacques Chirac laid out his vision for France's nuclear arsenal, warned that more countries were trying to obtain weapons of mass destruction.

"Little by little, we see countries starting to equip themselves," Bentegeat, the chief of staff of France's armed forces, said on RTL radio. "The most striking example today is clearly Iran and North Korea, which have long-range missiles and are trying to obtain nuclear weapons."

Iran, he said, "presents a major worry because it is a country that has shown extremely bellicose intentions." Chirac on Thursday laid out a new vision of France's doctrine of nuclear deterrence, saying nuclear arms could be used in response to a state terrorist attack against France.

Bentegeat said it was difficult for the international community to prove that states were behind terrorism. "More than the use of state terrorism, what has considerably increased in recent time is the potential use by a state of what we call weapons of mass destruction, long-range missiles with nuclear, chemical or biological warheads," he said, reports the AP. N.U.