Chirac Recants on ‘Iran Not Dangerous’

French President Jacques Chirac has recanted remarks he made to journalists in Paris about Iran not being a big danger with one or two nuclear weapons.

Monday, Chirac met with writers from The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and Le Nouvel Observateur, a weekly magazine, and made the remarks. On Tuesday, he called the writers back and said he thought his remarks had been off the record and clarified his position.

Under a media agreement, the incident could not be reported until Thursday, when the magazine published.

Chirac’s initial comments were that Iran having one or two bombs wasn’t as dangerous as further proliferation.

Having one or perhaps a second bomb a little later, well, that’s not very dangerous, he said Monday.

On Tuesday, Chirac said repeatedly he had spoken casually and quickly the day before because he believed he had been talking off the record, the Times reported.