KashifAsrar
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News from todays ToI, dated 16th April 2007.
Kashif
âBush fears a Pakistan-aided Sunni bombâ
Says If Shia Iran Gets N-Weapons, Mideast Nations Would Seek Same
New York: US president George Bush has reportedly expressed the fear that if Shia Iran acquires nuclear weapons, the Middle Eastern countries might turn to the nuclear-armed Pakistan for help to create a âSunni bombâ.
As officials in Washington tried to build their case for stepping up pressure on Iran, Bush talked privately to experts on the Middle East about his fears of a âSunni bomb,â and his concerns that countries in the Middle East might turn to the only nuclear-armed Sunni state, Pakistan, for help, it said.
With Shia Iran increasingly ascendant in the region, Sunni countries have alluded to other motives, it said, adding that officials from 21 governments in and around Middle East warned at a meeting of Arab leaders in March that Tehranâs drive for atomic technology could result in the beginning of âa grave and destructive nuclear arms race in the region.â
The paper said that two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. But today, it claimed, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.
Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programmes, the report said.
While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East, the paper said. âThe rules have changed,â King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. âEverybodyâs going for nuclear programmes.â
NYT said the Middle East states contend they only want atomic power but it quoted US government and private analysts as saying they believe that the rush of activity is also intended to counter the threat of a nuclear Iran.
The underlying technologies of nuclear power can make electricity or, with more effort, warheads, as nations have demonstrated over the decades by turning ostensibly civilian programmes into sources of bomb fuel.
Iranâs uneasy neighbours, analysts said, may be positioning themselves to do the same. âOne danger of Iran going nuclear has always been that it might provoke others,â said Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an arms analysis group in London. âSo when you see the development of nuclear power elsewhere in the region, itâs a cause for some concern.â PTI
Kashif
âBush fears a Pakistan-aided Sunni bombâ
Says If Shia Iran Gets N-Weapons, Mideast Nations Would Seek Same
New York: US president George Bush has reportedly expressed the fear that if Shia Iran acquires nuclear weapons, the Middle Eastern countries might turn to the nuclear-armed Pakistan for help to create a âSunni bombâ.
As officials in Washington tried to build their case for stepping up pressure on Iran, Bush talked privately to experts on the Middle East about his fears of a âSunni bomb,â and his concerns that countries in the Middle East might turn to the only nuclear-armed Sunni state, Pakistan, for help, it said.
With Shia Iran increasingly ascendant in the region, Sunni countries have alluded to other motives, it said, adding that officials from 21 governments in and around Middle East warned at a meeting of Arab leaders in March that Tehranâs drive for atomic technology could result in the beginning of âa grave and destructive nuclear arms race in the region.â
The paper said that two years ago, the leaders of Saudi Arabia told international atomic regulators that they could foresee no need for the kingdom to develop nuclear power. But today, it claimed, they are scrambling to hire atomic contractors, buy nuclear hardware and build support for a regional system of reactors.
Turkey is preparing for its first atomic plant. And Egypt has announced plans to build one on its Mediterranean coast. In all, roughly a dozen states in the region have recently turned to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna for help in starting their own nuclear programmes, the report said.
While interest in nuclear energy is rising globally, it is unusually strong in the Middle East, the paper said. âThe rules have changed,â King Abdullah II of Jordan recently told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. âEverybodyâs going for nuclear programmes.â
NYT said the Middle East states contend they only want atomic power but it quoted US government and private analysts as saying they believe that the rush of activity is also intended to counter the threat of a nuclear Iran.
The underlying technologies of nuclear power can make electricity or, with more effort, warheads, as nations have demonstrated over the decades by turning ostensibly civilian programmes into sources of bomb fuel.
Iranâs uneasy neighbours, analysts said, may be positioning themselves to do the same. âOne danger of Iran going nuclear has always been that it might provoke others,â said Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, an arms analysis group in London. âSo when you see the development of nuclear power elsewhere in the region, itâs a cause for some concern.â PTI
