FM Shalom warns nuclear armed Iran would be 'nightmare'

March 12, 2005

MEXICO CITY - Israel said on Friday that Iran was very close to being able to make a nuclear bomb and urged the United States and Europe to pressure Tehran to abandon a suspected nuclear arms program.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told Reuters an Iranian nuclear bomb would be a "nightmare" for Israel and other countries.

"In our view, they are very close, they are too close, to having the knowledge to develop this kind of bomb and that's why we should be in a hurry," Shalom said in an interview on a visit to Mexico.

Pakistan acknowledged this week for the first time a disgraced Pakistani scientist at the center of a nuclear black market gave Iran centrifuges which can be used to make atomic weapons.

Shalom would not put a date on when Israel thought Iran could have nuclear arms, which he said would be a threat beyond the Middle East because Tehran is developing new long-range missiles.

"The idea that this tyranny of Iran will hold a nuclear bomb is a nightmare not only for us but for the whole world," he said.

Israel Air Force warplanes bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor in a raid in 1981 to prevent it from making atomic bombs.

Observers have speculated Israel might launch a similar strike against Iranian facilities, but Shalom played down the military option against Iran.

"We believe that diplomacy is the only way to deal with this issue," he told a meeting of academics and journalists.

"I am very satisfied with the European and American determination in asking the Iranians to comply with the understanding they achieved with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European countries," Shalom said.

He said Iran should be reported to the United Nations Security Council if it resumed uranium enrichment and nuclear reprocessing activities, which could be used to develop an atomic bomb.

The minister asked Mexican President Vicente Fox at a meeting on Friday to take a tough line on Iran. Mexico is one of several dozen members of the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors.

EU, U.S. close ranks on Iran

Closing ranks, the European Union has revealed it will back U.S. calls to refer Iran to the UN Security Council if it does not scrap programs linked to nuclear arms, and America said it would support some European incentives meant to get Iran to give up the technology.

"We are united in our determination that Iran should not acquire a nuclear weapons capability," the Europeans stated in a confidential document obtained Friday by The Associated Press. If Tehran does not give up uranium enrichment, "we shall have no choice but to support referring Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council."

As the document - a review of talks between Iran and Germany, France and Britain for the European Union - was being circulated among EU member nations, the U.S. administration said it would shift somewhat on its policy of not offering Iran perks before it agrees to respect international norms.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters the U.S. will support European diplomatic efforts to end Iran's suspected nuclear weapons ambitions by dropping objections to Iran's membership in the World Trade Organization and to endorse some sales of civilian aircraft parts to Tehran.

"We share the desire of European governments to secure Iran's adherence to its obligations through peace and diplomatic means," Rice said, referring to Iran's commitments under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. "Today's announcement demonstrates that we are prepared to take practical steps to support European efforts to this end," she said.

There was no immediate response from Iran, either to Rice's comments or to the EU warning on the Security Council, which an EU official said Tehran had been informed of earlier in the day.

The moves were significant in reflecting a united trans-Atlantic front on Iran after more than two years of acrimony over what to do about Tehran's suspect nuclear activities, following revelations in 2004 that Iran was close to being able to enrich uranium after nearly two decades of clandestine activity.

Enrichment can produce lower-grade uranium for electricity - which is what Iran says it is interested in - or weapons-grade material for the core of nuclear warheads. Washington says Iran's real interests lie in making such weapons.

The developments also reversed Europe's traditional role of offering Iran carrots while the U.S. brandishes the stick. The Europeans had been the main impediment over the past two years in U.S. attempts to take Iran before the Security Council for alleged violations of the Nonproliferation Treaty, arguing that such a harsh move could lead Iran to quit the International Atomic Energy Agency, leaving no outside monitor of its nuclear activities.

The trans-Atlantic joining of ranks came amid indications of continued deadlock at the Europe-Iran talks over enrichment, now in their third month. The five-page EU document said "both sides have strongly held positions on this difficult issue, which remains at the core of negotiations," and an EU official familiar with the talks confirmed Iran continued to insist on its right to the technology despite European demands that it give it up.

Iran has agreed to suspend further development of its enrichment technology pending the negotiations with the Europeans. It has, however insisted the freeze would be brief.

While senior European politicians already have suggested that they would support the U.S. effort if the talks with Iran fail, the unequivocal language contained in the document was among the clearest statements yet that the EU would back Washington if the present talks fail.

Diplomats said the offers on World Trade Organization membership and spare aircraft parts were unlikely to sway Iran, which has been resisting even greater inducements.

Still the U.S. offer carried diplomatic punch - it was clearly meant to reward the firm European line and to show Tehran that there was unity in efforts to get it to renounce its enrichment plans.

The U.S. administration had up to recently opposed any concessions to Iran, which Bush has labeled part of an "Axis of Evil" because of its nuclear program and Tehran's support of militant anti-Israeli groups such as Hezbollah.

SOURCE: Haaretz