Posted on 10/21/2003 5:45:46 PM PDT by yonif
Saudi Arabia is seeking nuclear warheads from Pakistan for its land-based missiles, according to OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi (Farkash).
He reported on the growing nuclear threat to the region to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.
Iran also poses a threat and, if unchecked, its nuclear program will reach the "point of no return" by this summer, said Ze'evi, speaking on the same day that Iran agreed to temporarily suspend its uranium enrichment program and allow spot checks of its nuclear program.
Ze'evi was quoted as telling the committee that within 10 months Iran will no longer need outside help to produce nuclear weapons and as such, no diplomatic initiative would be able to stop its nuclear program.
Committee chairman Yuval Steinitz said the committee has received a number of reports on Iran, but that this is the first time it has heard a report on Saudi Arabia.
The information, he said, is consistent with details he heard last month in Washington from experts speaking before the Senate, who said that Saudi Arabia has long-range missiles that are useful to them only if armed with nuclear warheads.
"There is an assumption that Saudi Arabia financed the Pakistan nuclear plant and that there is a tacit understanding between the two countries that, if Iran becomes nuclear, Saudi Arabia will be provided with some nuclear warheads from Pakistan," said Steinitz.
"I don't know how accurate this is. I do not know if it is really going to happen. We do not know for sure that there is such an attempt. Even if there are such intentions, then I am quite confident it would be prevented by the US." The precedent of one country giving nuclear bombs to another country in the region would be very dangerous, he added.
Steinitz said he was relieved to hear that Iran is taking steps to work with the international community with respect to its nuclear program. "This is a very positive development," he added.
In an attempt to allay international fears, the secretary of Iran's powerful Supreme National Security Council, Hasan Rowhani said Iran will sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty that would allow inspectors to enter any site they deem fit without notice.
"The protocol should not threaten our national security, national interests, and national pride," Rowhani said.
He added that Iran, for an unexplained "interim period," would suspend nuclear enrichment "to express its goodwill and create a new atmosphere of trust and confidence between Iran and the international community."
There was no indication of when Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment. Foreign ministers Jack Straw of Britain, Joschka Fischer of Germany, and Dominique de Villepin of France were to press Iran to meet an October 31 deadline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency for proving it does not have a nuclear weapons program.
Iran also agreed to hand over other information long sought by the IAEA, said diplomats in Vienna, where the IAEA is based. Most importantly, said the diplomats, Iran promised to account for the origin of traces of weapons-grade uranium IAEA inspectors discovered at two facilities, raising alarm bells in Vienna and Washington.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei has called those traces, found in environmental samples, the most troubling aspect of Iran's nuclear activities.
AP contributed to this story.
A bit of an engineering problem there. Better to nuke them into a glass parking lot and take the oil where it sits.
--Boris
Uh oh, a Wahabi nuclear power will never fly.
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.