French PM: Iran's Stabilizing Role? Seriously?

The Jerusalem Post has several good post up regarding the war:

Olmert - No Ceasefire:

"still many days of fighting ahead of us. Missiles and rockets will continue to land, and hours of fear, uncertainty and yes - even pain, tears and blood - are still expected."........................"The fighting continues," Olmert said. "There is no cease-fire and there will be no cease-fire. The IDF is fighting in the air, sea and land, and at this very moment, the IDF is advancing in the south of Lebanon to destroy the terrorist infrastructures there."................

Assad - Syria Smuggling Arms for Hizbullah:

According to new intelligence obtained by the defense establishment, Syrian President Bashar Assad, alongside senior military officials, is directly involved in the attempts to smuggle weapons and rockets to Hizbullah in Lebanon.............

That's not really a surprise, but this sort of was for me:

According to the defense establishment, the reason Hizbullah has not fired long-range Iranian-made Fajr missiles at Israel is due to Teheran's opposition. Israel now understands that without direct orders from the ayatollahs, Hizbullah is not allowed to use Iranian missiles in attacks against Israel.....................

That might have lead to this statement by the French "Iran a Stabilizing Force":

Israeli officials were bewildered by French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy's comment Monday that Iran plays a stabilizing role in the region, but said this should be seen in the wider context of a French-US tug-of-war regarding whether Iran or Syria is the ultimate bad guy in the region.

Douste-Blazy, who was in Beirut Monday, said, "In the region there is of course a country such as Iran - a great country, a great people and a great civilization which is respected and which plays a stabilizing role in the region."

Reports that France is in the thick of discussions to become a central player in a cease fire make the FM's statement even more bewildering...........