Sarkozy said that could be achieved either by creating a new court dedicated specifically to nuclear issues, or by expanding the statute of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“Today we have no way of punishing a country that provides nuclear materials to a terrorist organization,” Sarkozy said. “I have proposed that such a states be prosecuted and convicted by an international tribunal under the auspices of the United Nations.” He did not say how a state could be tried. The United States is not a member of the ICC because it fears the potential of politically motivated prosecutions of US officials or soldiers.
The French president spoke to reporters at the end of a 47-nation nuclear security summit in the US capital, during which leaders endorsed President Barack Obama's call for securing all of the globe's vulnerable nuclear materials within four years.
Obama had found the idea of an international court “useful,” Sarkozy said, and suggested that aides work with the secretary-general of the United Nations to come up with a plan in time for the next summit two years down the line in South Korea.
The countries at the conference pledged to cooperate more deeply with the United Nations and its watchdog arm, the International Atomic Energy Agency. They also said they would share information on nuclear detection and ways to prevent nuclear trafficking.
While the conference was centered on securing nuclear materials from terrorists, there was discussion of Iran.
Sarkozy said the United Nations should impose fresh sanctions against Iran no later than May.
France has helped lead a push for new sanctions over Iranian activities that Western powers fear are aimed at making nuclear bombs. Tehran, which was not invited to the conference, insists they are aimed at producing electricity.
“It seems reasonable to me to set a timetable to issue UN sanctions in April ... or no later than May,” Sarkozy said. “I think there is a growing understanding that the current situation (with Iran) cannot continue.” Sarkozy's comments came hours after French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in Paris expressed similar concerns about Iran's nuclear ambitions and urged quick, strong new sanctions “to make Iran change its behavior.” Fillon made the remark in talks Tuesday with visiting Israeli President Shimon Peres.
