Op-Ed: The Dutch Origins of the Iranian Nuclear Bomb

The EU does not seem to apprehend the nature of the Iranian nuclear program. The Dutch helped it happen.

On October 21st 2003 the EU and Iran signed an agreement called the Tehran Declaration which stated the following:

"The Iranian authorities reaffirmed that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine and that its nuclear program and activities have been exclusively in the peaceful domain".

Last week's publication of the latest IAEA report not only showed the futility of signing this kind of agreement with a fanatical Islamist regime but it also delivered the ultimate proof of the bankruptcy of European policy towards Iran.

That policy has always been based on dialogue and was the result of wishful thinking and Western conceptions about the Middle East. Even now, after the publication of the devastating evidence of the Iranian attempts to build a nuclear weapon, the EU continues this policy.

During a recent meeting the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU issued a call on Iran to enter into ‘constructive and substantial talks with the EU 3+3 committee in order to achieve a negotiated long term solution of the nuclear question’.

At the same meeting the EU foreign ministers issued conflicting messages about the so called 'military option' by signalling on one hand that a military attack on Iran is impossible (France and Germany) and on the other hand by stating that the military option is still on the table (The Netherlands).

However, the Dutch statement about the military option does not reflect the position of the Dutch Government and a large majority in Dutch parliament. .....

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Just last week the last proponent of military action against Iran in the Dutch government, Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) reversed its position. The party no longer backs military intervention against Iran at this point in time.

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Dutch connection

This was not the first time Europeans were denying the facts and refusing to act on intelligence pointing to the development of a nuclear weapon by an Islamic regime.

Something similar happened when Pakistan intended to build a nuclear weapon.

In fact much of the current mess with Iran has its origins in what happened then.

Here is how that could be:

The new IAEA report mentions that Iran obtained plans for the development of P-1 centrifuges to enrich uranium from a clandestine nuclear supply network in 1987.

That network was headed by Dr.Abdul Qadeer Khan, the director of Pakistan’s atomic project.

Khan stole the blueprints for the development of a Pakistani nuclear bomb in The Netherlands, when he worked as a student at the Urenco plant in Almelo.

However, what few people know is that Khan received help from a Dutchman after he stole Urenco’s nuclear secrets.

That Dutchman was Henk Sleebos, a Dutch engineer and an expert on uranium enrichment and exploding bridge wire detonators (EBW’s): a detonator described for use in a nuclear device.

Sleebos set up a giant network of European companies which illegally provided Khan with al sorts of parts, materials and know-how for the production of a nuclear weapon.

Sleebos also helped Khan in Pakistan with the development of the Pakistani nuclear bomb.

All this happened while the Dutch secret services, and later also the Dutch government, were fully aware of the network and the goal of its activities.

Former CIA agent Richard Farlow, who was in charge of following the covert programs of weapons of mass destruction, told Dutch TV in 2005 that the CIA had been in frequent contact with both the Dutch secret services (BVD and AID) and the Dutch government regarding Sleebos and his network.

He said he had warned the Dutch authorities on numerous occasions.

Farlow was perplexed when he saw that the Dutch- and other European governments did next to nothing to stop the Sleebos network from smuggling nuclear and other parts to Pakistan.

Former IAEA inspector David Albright even called the Dutch help to Pakistan 'critical'.

A few years later Iran obtained Khan’s blue prints.

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The EU does not seem to apprehend the nature of the Iranian nuclear program.

I think it's "comprehend" but we get the idea. Bill Klinton made this same exact mistake with N. Korea in the 1990s. Believing that these countries won't use nuclear weapons requires a schizophrenic mindset. It's pretty hard to believe it's an accident.

I would say the cause is well-placed bribe money and wishful thinking that nukes will only be used as chess piece, never for an actual detonation. There's just too many politicians who are looking out for themselves only. When they're sitting in their retirement homes in the Bahamas, they don't care if their home country burns to the ground.

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