Israel's ambassador to the United States has warned that Iran's controversial nuclear activities are "the most critical issue for America and the Western world" and could ignite a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, Newsweek reported Saturday (see GSN, Dec. 24, 2008).
(Jan. 6) -
Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor recently urged the United States and other nations to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons (Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images).
The United States and other Western powers have urged Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, which can produce nuclear power plant fuel but also a key nuclear bomb ingredient. Tehran insists its nuclear work has no military component.
"The closer they get to having a bomb, and the closer they are perceived to be, you can expect Iran's neighbors to start acting on the assumption that Iran is going to have a bomb," Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor said, adding that Iran would acquire enough low-enriched uranium this year to ultimately power one weapon (see GSN, Dec. 3, 2008).
To produce fuel for a weapon, however,Iran would need to further process its low-enriched material through its centrifuges again.
"Even if Iran just scaled up the quantity of its uranium, is it safe to assume that the Arab countries would stay calm and do nothing? Every Gulf country is all of a sudden looking for civilian nuclear energy. And you have Turkey, and Egypt is on the same track. So we are on the verge of a cascade of instability and a potential cascade of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East," Meridor said.
Asked why Israel considers civilian nuclear programs in neighboring states to be threats when countries around the world are pursuing similar efforts, he said: "Ask yourself why these oil-rich countries want to go in this direction. I can understand it of countries with no other resources. But we're talking about countries that have vast oil reserves."
The ambassador warned that Israel would launch strikes on Iranian nuclear sites unless the United States and other Western powers took swift action. He urged the international community to pressure Iran to halt its enrichment work by curtailing the country's ability to import refined oil products, exploiting what he called the Tehran's "most serious vulnerability."
World powers must also consider additional, wider sanctions on Iran, Meridor said.
"You would have to consider something like what went on in Iraq in terms of controlling what they spend their oil exports on, making sure that the returns are directed to food and other necessary things and not to the Revolutionary Guards. Yet all the pressures so far have not been enough to offset oil at $100 or $120 a barrel. But if oil stays between $40 and $50, it's going to challenge them," he said (Newsweek, Jan. 3).