A hopeful sign:
But, he said, Israel will not take the lead in striking
Iranian targets, as it did by bombing an Iraqi nuclear
installation 25 years ago.
Quite ironic that Israel, with hundreds of nuclear weapons, would
condemn 'proliferation'.
rkm
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Original source URL:
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1148077815559&call_pageid=968332188854&col=968350060724
West urged to halt Iran
Israeli general warns of proliferation
Time running out to stop Tehran's plans
May 20, 2006. 01:00 AM
OLIVIA WARD
FEATURE WRITER
The West has less than a year to block Iran's ambition to develop
nuclear weapons before it touches off "hyper-proliferation"
throughout the Middle East, says Israel's military intelligence chief.
"The most important step for Iran is the first one - independent
research and development capacity," said Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi.
"They have already begun to enrich uranium, starting in January or
February 2006. After that, it isn't important whether the first bomb
is built in 2010 or 2015. The damage is done."
Tehran announced in April it had enriched uranium to a level that can
be used for producing a domestic energy supply, saying it would
continue to escalate the enrichment program.
The United States has called for a new international treaty banning
production of weapons-grade nuclear material. Meanwhile, the UN
Security Council's powerful five permanent members, and Germany, are
working on a package of incentives to deter Iran from taking steps
that could lead to a nuclear bomb - a move that Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared to scorn.
"Do you think you are dealing with a 4-year-old child to whom you can
give some walnuts and chocolates and get gold from him?" Ahmadinejad
said on Iranian state television.
He later softened his stance, saying progress was being made in
defusing the crisis.
But Ze'evi said he was "very skeptical" that Tehran would agree to
bargain away its right to develop the capacity to produce nuclear
weapons. While the Iranian government has insisted that its nuclear
program is peaceful, it reserves the right to enrich uranium.
The United States has issued strong warnings against continuing the
enrichment program. But, Ze'evi said, Washington is unlikely to
launch an attack on suspected Iranian nuclear sites very soon, unless
it can produce a "smoking gun" to convince the public the situation
is critical.
"We're not there yet," Ze'evi told the Toronto Star during a visit to
Toronto this week, when he spoke at a fundraising dinner for the Aleh
Negev Foundation's project to build a rehabilitation village in
southern Israel for severely handicapped children and adults.
"The evidence (of nuclear weapons development) in Iran is stronger
than it was in Iraq. But it's crucial to get the United Nations'
authority to use force. This is not the problem of an individual
country, it's a global problem," Ze'evi said, adding that nuclear
weapons technology would spread rapidly throughout the Middle East if
Iran acquired a bomb.
But, he said, Israel will not take the lead in striking Iranian
targets, as it did by bombing an Iraqi nuclear installation 25 years
ago. "Israel doesn't have to lead in this struggle, either militarily
or politically. We have enough problems to deal with in our own area.
This is a well-defined threat against Europe, the United States and
many other countries."
Last week, leaked reports predicted the UN's nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, may have found the smoking gun
needed to trigger military action.
The agency asked Iran for samples of machinery from a destroyed
physics research centre to test whether it showed traces of
bomb-grade uranium. Iran denied that the highly enriched material was
found on vacuum pumps at the military-linked site northeast of
Tehran, and experts said the equipment could have been imported after
contamination in another country such as Pakistan.
If Iran is developing a nuclear bomb, Ze'evi said, one of the biggest
threats is its command and control structure.
"Surface-to-surface missiles are under the control of the Republican
Guard, who are not part of the military. Ballistic missile
capabilities are directly under the control of (Ayatollah Ali)
Khamenei, not the chief of defence," he said, referring to Iran's
hardline supreme leader who succeeded the late Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini.
Both Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are bitterly opposed to Israel, and
Ahmadinejad has brought Iran closer to Israel's sworn enemies, Syria
and the new Palestinian Islamist government, Hamas - moves that have
sparked anger in the West.
"I think that Westerners often have little understanding of how deep
the feeling is in Iran that they are cornered," said Ze'evi. "They
really believe that if they have nuclear military capacity everyone
will treat Iran differently."
Ze'evi, who briefs the Israeli government and others on security in
the Middle East, will leave his job at the end of the year.
Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved.
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