UK politician foresees nuclear Iran triggering new Middle Eastern cold war

Monday, February 20, 2012

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has described a possibility of a new cold war in the Middle East due to the Iranian nuclear programme. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggests negotiating with Iran by asking it to disprove the allegations of developing nuclear weapons.

"If [the Iranians] obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons," Hague said. "The most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun." Ex-UK diplomat Sir Richard Dalton rules out the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile Ki-moon dismissed US and Israeli suggestions of attacking Iran, saying that "all these issues should be resolved peacefully through negotiations, through dialogue." He said so after attending anniversary ceremonies of an agency to detect secret nuclear weapon tests, called the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation. Hague has also urged Israel not to strike. He said, "All options must remain on the table but a military attack would have enormous downsides." He insisted on giving sanctions to Iran instead.

However, some US officials extrapolated that Iran is determined about the nuclear programme as the nation threatened to disrupt oil supply to six European nations earlier this week. A number of US officials now believe that attacking Iran is the only way out.

Dalton stated, "There are many signs, as reported by the International Atomic Energy Agency, that some research and development relevant to the development of nuclear weapons may still be going on. But it is wrong to say that Iran is rushing towards having a nuclear weapon."

Iran organised a ceremony which revealed its nuclear programme on Wednesday. It stated that the programme is only about generating nuclear power. Iran also loaded its first domestically created fuel into the reactor last week.

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Sources

"Hague fears Iran could start 'new Cold War'" — BBC News Online, February 18, 2012
"Iran's nuclear ambitions could lead to 'Middle East cold war', says Hague" — The Guardian, February 18, 2012
AP. "Iran should open nuke programme, says UN chief" — The Times of India, February 18, 2012

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