Posted on 12/05/2007 7:39:27 PM PST by blam
Israel urges strong position on Iran
By Con Coughlin
Last Updated: 3:01am GMT 06/12/2007
Israel gave warning yesterday that Iran must either co-operate with the West over its uranium enrichment programme or face military action.
Ron Prosor is one of his country's leading experts on Iran. ‘A global threat requires a global response’
Ron Prosor, Israel's newly appointed ambassador to Britain and one of his country's leading experts on Iran's nuclear programme, said that Teheran could enrich enough uranium to make an atomic bomb by 2009.
"At the current rate of progress Iran will reach the technical threshold for producing fissile material by 2009," he told The Daily Telegraph.
"This is a global threat and it requires a global response. It should be made clear that if Iran does not co-operate then military confrontation is inevitable. It is either co-operation or confrontation."
Mr Prosor, who served Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, as his senior adviser on Iran, said that time for resolving the nuclear issue was rapidly running out.
However, he was non-committal about the possibility of Israel launching military action.
"There needs to be full verification of what is happening in Iran," said Mr Prosor, who was speaking for the first time since his arrival in London last month.
"In Israel there is a belief that the Iranians are continuing with their nuclear weapons programme."
Mr Prosor spoke after Washington published its latest National Intelligence Assessment, compiled by the main US security agencies, which concluded that Iran had frozen its nuclear weapons programme four years ago.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday hailed the report, adding that the "truthfulness of the Iranian nation was once again proved by the ill-wishers themselves".
But Israel and its allies - including President George W Bush - remain deeply concerned that Iran is continuing to enrich uranium.
"Iran will soon be able to fully control all the elements of enrichment," explained Mr Prosor.
"From that point on, it is only a matter of time before they have a weapon."
Senior Israeli officials say they have a "zero tolerance policy" on allowing Iran to develop any sort of nuclear weapons capability.
And Mr Prosor, 50, who has been immersed in the Iran issue for more than a decade, expressed surprise over Washington's latest intelligence estimate.
However, he said it proved two important points.
First, it contradicted Iran's official claim that its nuclear ambitions had always been peaceful by establishing that the country had run a weapons programme, even if it was now suspended.
Second, it showed that Iran was continuing to enrich uranium contrary to its international obligations.
"If we take the report at face value then we must conclude that the UN sanctions have had an effect on Iranian decision-making. It is important to keep up the sanctions because they are working," said Mr Prosor.
He likened Iran's nuclear ambitions to "an express train travelling at high velocity to reach its destination at the end of the tracks", while the diplomatic train to persuade it to give up its programme was a "slow train that stopped at every stop while some people get on and others get off".
He also questioned Iran's need for a nuclear programme given its vast oil wealth, as well as stating that Teheran was trying to undermine President Bush's attempts to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which started with last month's meeting at the US port of Annapolis.
"This is the beginning of a process that we hope will result in two states, with two peoples living side by side in peace and with secure borders," he said.
"They will do everything they can to derail any progress that is made between the Israelis and Palestinians."
On relations between Britain and Israel, Mr Prosor said that there was "a unique and deep relationship" between the two countries which had been strengthened by continuing close co-operation in the fight against terrorism.
"We are learning from each other how to cope with the threat to democracy from terror organisations," he said.
With all due respect, if Israel is concerned about Iran, they are free to act.
I do not even have to read this entire article before I am willing to state that I support “ The Ryan Doctrine!”
I'm sure that Israel understands that Europe never has considered...and never will consider...military action against Iran.My guess is that they also understand that this recently released "analysis" would make it almost impossible for a US President of either Party to strike Iran for the foreseeable future at least.
Given those facts one can only assume that this statement is meant to be a threat that *Israel* will strike if and when she deems it necessary.
This kind of talk is somewhat similar to talk on wall street when we have big swings. If the market drops 300 points one day because of “economic worries”, and up the next day 250 points, then they really weren’t all that worried.
The question is, if one says Iran is a threat today, then when will it be necessary to strike??
IMO,the most likely time...and the most logical time...to strike would be just before they're able to deploy their first nuke.
Iran has a nuclear weapon and a delivery method. What’s the wait?
I doubt that...for several reasons.One...because if they did there'd be panic in the streets of Israel,two...because every 9th Century knuckledragging mullah in Iran would be shouting it from the rooftops if it was true and three...because they'd be sure to test it in such a way that even nine year old Billy Smith of Dayton,Ohio could pick up the evidence on the science kit he got last Christmas.
I think so too. I won't be at all surprised if we see WW III in the next 5-10 years. The worst part is the fact that the US may not come out on top of that one.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.