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Israel warned Iran approaching âpoint of no returnâ with nukes
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been urged to halt Iranâs nuclear weapons program. A senior Israeli parliamentarian regarded as a leading expert on Iranâs strategic programs has warned the Sharon government that it cannot rely on the United States to stop Teheranâs nuclear weapons project. The parliamentarian said Iran will achieve independent nuclear weapons capability over the next year."If we donât act by ourselves, then others wonât do anything," Knesset member Ephraim Sneh told a strategic conference in Herzliya on Tuesday. "They will only do something if they know that we will act, providing no other alternative. This moment is approaching," Middle East Newsline reported. Sneh, a minister in previous Israeli governments, warned of Iranâs nuclear capability as early as 1993 and helped draft policy that called for U.S. pressure to stop Russian technology to Teheran. He is a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs Committee, which receives frequent intelligence briefings on Iranâs nuclear weapons program. "In 2004, or at the latest 2005, Iran will arrive at the point of no-return for nuclear weapons," Sneh, echoing an assessment by Israelâs intelligence community, said. "This means that it will no longer require foreign assistance to produce a nuclear weapon." Sneh warned that an Iranian nuclear bomb will destroy the fabric of Israeli society. He said Israelâs government will be intimidated by an Iranian atomic bomb and that the nationâs elite will flee to avoid an Iranian nuclear attack. "People will leave here and not come back if they think Iran could use such weapons," Sneh said. "How would a government in Jerusalem confront nuclear weapons against an irrational regime. We will be limited in every way." Israeli officials said Snehâs remarks reflects those of the nationâs intelligence community. They said Israel has urged the United States to stop Iranâs nuclear program during 2004 before Teheranâs reaches indigenous nuclear capability. But U.S. analysts who appeared with Sneh during a discussion of Iran frowned on a military strike on Iranâs nuclear facilities. They said the Bush administration had little stomach for another military confrontation amid the campaign to stabilize Iraq. Patrick Clawson, head of research at the Washington Institute, said the United States can delay Iranâs nuclear weapons program by between two and 10 years with a military intervention. Clawson said a U.S. assassination campaign against leading Iranian scientists could be more effective than an air strike on Iranian nuclear facilities. "It could be what Israel did in Egypt in the 1960s, making certain that key people in meet an untimely accident." Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-12-18 |
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