MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Nicolas Sarkozy recently said in Washington that the Iranian nuclear problem could be solved through U.N. and EU sanctions, but hastened to add a reservation about the "readiness for a dialogue with Tehran."

In the opinion of the French president, a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable, but access to the "peaceful atom" is open to everyone, including Iran.

This placing of accents on the Iranian theme could hardly have found favor with Sarkozy's host, U.S. President George W. Bush. Only recently the U.S. president called for keeping nuclear technologies away from Iran to avoid a third world war.

"A word is a symbol representing reality in consciousness." If one proceeds from that logical definition, the conclusion suggests itself: If Bush refers to the third world war, he thinks of it as something real. But what could its scenario be?

No logic can explain the connection between a third world war and Iran. Iran cannot lead -- now or in the foreseeable future -- any meaningful coalition in a world war. Nor can it provide a casus belli for a clash of such coalitions. Any military adventure on its part would instantly bring about its defeat, wiping it off the global political map. Besides, if events take such a turn, Iran cannot count on any sympathy in the world.