(Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Dore Gold - The lead editorial of the Washington Post on Feb. 5, 2015, "The Emerging Iran Nuclear Deal Raises Major Concerns," expressed the growing concern in elite circles with the contours of the emerging nuclear accord between Iran and the P5+1. Part of the concern emanates from the change in the goals of Western negotiators: rather than eliminate Iran's potential to build nuclear weapons, they now want to restrict Iranian capabilities, which would leave Tehran in a position to break out of any restrictions in the future. Israel's position is that Iran should have zero centrifuges. If Iran truly needs enriched uranium for civilian purposes, it could import enriched uranium as do Canada, Mexico, and Spain. The Israeli position is in line with six UN Security Council resolutions adopted between 2006 and 2010 with the support of Russia and China. According to Gary Samore, President Obama's former non-proliferation adviser, the U.S. was demanding that Iran significantly reduce its stock of centrifuges to 1,500, but dropped the longstanding U.S. policy that Iran eliminate its centrifuges completely. According to multiple press reports, Western negotiators have raised the ceiling for the number of centrifuges to 4,500, and they now appear to be ready to let the Iranians have 6,000 centrifuges. Yet the proposed 6,000 centrifuge limit will not allow sufficient time to respond to an Iranian breakout. Other countries in the Middle East will react to these concessions by accelerating their own nuclear programs. A bad agreement with Iran, in short, will leave the world a much more dangerous place. The writer, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN, is president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and author of The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West (2009).
2015-02-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive