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Iran's nuclear plans - a ticking time bomb |
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Thursday, 29 December 2005 |
 WORLD MUST TAKE STRONGER STAND AGAINST THREAT
Miami Herald - If nothing else, the rantings of President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad have erased whatever doubt may have existed about the
dangers posed by a nuclear-armed Iran. Ever since the former mayor of
Tehran was elected to head the country in mid-2005, he has repeatedly
displayed open hostility toward the West, and Israel in particular.
It's time for other nations to join the United States in a campaign to
block Iran's drive to speed up its nuclear-development program.
Ignorance and hostility
Clearly, time is running out. This week, the head of Israel's Mossad
overseas intelligence service, Gen. Meir Dagan, said Iran will be able
to build an atom bomb within two years. Left unhindered, he told a
committee of the Knesset, Iran will be independent ''in terms of
nuclear technological material.'' After that, producing a bomb is a
straightforward technical process. His warning should prod the
international community to make it an immediate priority to stop Iran's
determined efforts to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran's confrontational approach was cast by Mr. Ahmadinejad's fiery
speech to the U.N. General Assembly in September. This 29-minute rant
consisted mainly of anti-American rhetoric. In October, he declared
''Israel must be wiped off the map.'' Later, he said that Israel should
be moved to Europe, and he labeled the Nazi Holocaust ``a myth.''
This display of ignorance and hostility should convince the most
skeptical audience that this is not someone to be reasoned with. Nor
can Iran's insistence that it wants nuclear technology only for
peaceful purposes be believed.
For one thing, Iran has repeatedly violated or tried to skirt its
obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It has also
sought, and probably obtained, illicit nuclear technology on the black
market, and it consistently has stalled the multination talks on
inspection and control of its nuclear facilities.
The Bush administration has rightly pursued multilateral negotiations
with Iran under the umbrella of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy
Agency. That process has resulted in many of the troubling disclosures
about Iran's nuclear program, and no doubt will yield more.
Defuse this bomb
The administration should also work to convince other countries --
India and Brazil, for example -- to join in a sanctions campaign. This
effort would include trade and aid restrictions, and a penalty for
countries that help Iran's nuclear-energy program.
The cooperation of China and Russia -- or at least an agreement not to
help Iran -- is indispensable if the world is going to succeed in
defusing this ticking time bomb. Reining in Iran's nuclear program is
in the interest of every peaceful country in the world. |
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