The danger lies in where all this could lead. A new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies argues that Iran has caused this sudden upsurge of interest in nuclear power generation in the Middle East.
All of these new programmes began in the 11 months after Feb 2006. This was the period when Iran began enriching uranium in defiance of the United Nations, embarking on a highly sensitive process which could be used to manufacture the essential material for a nuclear bomb.
21 May 2008: Daily Telegraph
By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor
If you thought only America, Europe and Israel were concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, look at the behaviour of the Arab world. No less than 13 countries across the Middle East have now begun nuclear energy programmes.
Every one of Iran’s neighbours in the Gulf, with the single exception of Iraq, has drawn up new plans for nuclear power plants or revived old proposals. First things first. All of these programmes are peaceful and all international safeguards are being observed. No country has declared that possessing nuclear weapons is the aim.
The danger lies in where all this could lead. A new report from the International Institute for Strategic Studies argues that Iran has caused this sudden upsurge of interest in nuclear power generation in the Middle East.
All of these new programmes began in the 11 months after Feb 2006. This was the period when Iran began enriching uranium in defiance of the United Nations, embarking on a highly sensitive process which could be used to manufacture the essential material for a nuclear bomb.
By choosing this path, Iran spread widespread concern about its true intentions. Thirteen new nuclear programmes have been the result.
All the countries concerned are, says the IISS, trying to counter-balance Iran and open new options for “future security”.
Why are Arab countries so worried? Centuries of rivalry between Persian Iran and the Arab world provides much of the answer. So does the ancient animosity between Shia Iran and the Sunni governments and monarchies on the other side of the Gulf. Saudi Arabia would, according to the IISS, view a nuclear-armed Iran as a “direct and dire threat”.
The first glimmers of a possible future nuclear arms race in the Middle East are now visible. If this cataclysm ever comes to pass, we may view the present decade with nostalgia as an era of calm and stability before the storm.
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