Don’t Bomb Iran

Mossad chief Dagan “noted that it is very important that the United Nations Security Council impose
economic sanctions against Tehran, because of Iran’s heavy reliance
on imported replacement parts for automobiles and grains. Speaking after Dagan, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee chairman MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said that if Iran’s
nuclear program continues unchecked, Tehran will certainly have
operational nuclear capability within one or two years.

December 2005:

Last update - 22:14 27/12/2005
Mossad chief: Iran seeks more than one nuclear bomb
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

Mossad chief Meir Dagan told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee on Tuesday that Iran seeks to produce more than a single
nuclear bomb. Dagan warned that within a number of months, Iran will
attain technological independence, and that the subsequent
development of a nuclear bomb will only be a matter of time. He
refused to predict when Iran would be able to produce a bomb.

Presenting an annual assessment to the Knesset panel, Dagan noted
that Iran’s chances of attaining the necessary technology depends on
whether its plans will be thwarted by other countries or whether it will
be able to advance the uranium enrichment process.

“There exists a strategic Iranian decision to reach nuclear
independence and the capability to produce bombs,” Dagan stressed.

He said that he considers the diplomatic effort aimed at preventing or
at least delaying Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons to be of
utmost importance. The Mossad chief added that these efforts have
resulted in a two-year delay in Iran’s nuclear program. He noted that it
is very important that the United Nations Security Council impose
economic sanctions against Tehran, because of Iran’s heavy reliance
on imported replacement parts for automobiles and grains.

Speaking after Dagan, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee chairman MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said that if Iran’s
nuclear program continues unchecked, Tehran will certainly have
operational nuclear capability within one or two years.

Steinitz added that if Iran possesses atomic weaponry, the region will
become a “black Middle East” that will pose a danger and a threat to
the entire world.

He stressed that a nuclear Iran would mean a threat to the existence of
Israel, and called on the global community, under American leadership,
to take steps to thwart the Iranian program.

In a prior appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee, Dagan said that “Iran will reach the point of no return by
the end of 2005 in its technological capability to develop a nuclear
bomb. Three or four years later, they will be able to produce the bomb.