Britian would be foolish to rule out an attack on Iran

The United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States would be foolish to rule out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. An International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report this week is expected to reveal that Iran has an active nuclear weapons programme and is close to achieving it’s goals.

Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom have all suggested in recent weeks that that a military strike on Iran cannot be ruled out. Russia and China have both voiced opposition to the IAEA report, fearing that Iran will respond negatively and accelerate it’s programme in self defense.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of Iran has said that the contents of the IAEA report are “fabrications”.

For several years, the IAEA has warned of Iran’s nuclear facilities, and in the past Israel and the United States have applied sanctions to the regime to slow their nuclear weapons programme. Israel and the United States have, according to. There have been fears about “undisclosed nuclear activities involving military related organisations”, including research into the process required to enable the initiation of a nuclear chain reaction.

So – What are the option? Unless Iran backs down, which is unlikely, it seems that the alternatives are further economic sanctions, which tend to hit those that are not responsible for them, or it is military action, potentially along the lines of the Operation Opera strikes that the Israelis conducted against Iraq’s nuclear facilitites.

One thing is clear – Iran can not be permitted a nuclear bomb. A country which has nuclear weapons, like North Korea, but in the heart of one of the worlds oldest conflicts would produce a human disaster on a scale not seen since the 2nd World War.

Military action may distasteful, but it may be the only way to stop a belligerent Iran from developing atomic weapons. Proactive counter-proliferation has been the best mechanism for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons since the Cold War.

Tony Blair, speaking on the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks said:

If Iran were to acquire nuclear weapons capability it would destabilise the region very, very badly.

 

Once they have a nuclear bomb, it is too late to do anything about it.