(Christian Science Monitor) John Hughes - On Monday in Vienna, at a UN atomic energy agency meeting, the U.S. will seek to nudge Iran toward full disclosure of its troubling nuclear development program. The U.S. is expected to argue that Iran should be found in noncompliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. A consequence of such a finding might be action by the UN Security Council, including sanctions. But other members of the agency have substantial trade and economic interests in Iran and the outcome of any U.S. initiative is not certain. The Israelis have long considered Iran to offer a more potentially dangerous nuclear threat than Iraq. Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres recently described Iran as the "largest terror nucleus in the Middle East," possessing a selection of nuclear resources that put it right behind North Korea in nuclear capability. "There is no greater danger," Peres wrote in the Wall Street Journal, "than the conjunction of an evil regime with nuclear capabilities."
2003-09-04 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive