Chirac opposes deadline for Iran sanctions

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 19 (Reuters) French President Jacques Chirac said today he opposed setting a deadline for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, saying dialogue should be allowed to run its course.

At a news conference after addressing the UN General Assembly, Chirac said he and US President George W Bush were on the same wavelength about the terms for starting nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Asked how long major powers should wait for Iran to suspend uranium enrichment before imposing sanctions, he replied: ''We are committed to a negotiation and therefore to dialogue, so we're not going to start by setting deadlines that are a few hours long.

This is a process that is under way and I hope it will run its course.'' REUTERS PR BST0008