(Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty//Radio Farda-Persian) Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) said Sunday: "We think this evidence is clear, not just from the U.S. but international United Nations agencies, that the Iranian regime is building the capacity to build a nuclear weapon - many of them - and that if that happened it would be threatening to the entire region and the entire world." "There is tremendous fear of Iran with nuclear weapons, not just in the United States and Israel, for instance, but throughout the Arab world and, of course, in Europe." "So, we're coming to a point where there will only be two choices for not just the U.S. and Israel but other countries. Will we simply sit back and let Iran become a nuclear power and destabilize the region and start a nuclear arms race in the Middle East? Or will we be compelled to take some military action to delay or destroy that program?" He said it "doesn't make any sense" to wait until Iran actually possesses nuclear weapons to take military action. "What we are saying is we have to be ready, if all else fails - economic sanctions, diplomacy, etc." "I think we have the capability either to eliminate the Iranian nuclear weapons program or to disable it in a way that it will be delayed for enough years that we may hope and pray that there will be a regime change and that there will be a more democratic and friendly regime." "If there is military action by anyone outside of Iran against Iran's nuclear program, it's only because the government in Tehran has given us no other choice....But if Iran doesn't respond by altering its nuclear program, the prospects of U.S. military action are high."
2012-08-27 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive