Against the backdrop of mounting US campaigns against Iran over its nuclear program and provocative statements from both sides, Egypt made an effort to bring about an element of sanity among the powers that are busy manufacturing and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction.
At an international meeting held in Vienna recently, Egypt stressed the need for an agreement to stop the nuclear terrorism that threatens the entire Middle East. It has been Egypt’s long-held stand that the region should be free from all types of weapons of mass destruction.
A meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries held in Riyadh recently called for resolving the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic channels. It ruled out any military options against Iran because its consequences will, obviously, engulf the whole region and beyond.
The West too shares the view that no country in the region should possess nuclear warheads but the apparent exemption of Israel from this ban renders the whole idea meaningless.
Israel’s nuclear weapons are, undoubtedly, posing the gravest threat to the region. This is not a vague and unfounded fear but supported by Israel’s past conduct.
In a tit-for-tat response to the Iranian stand about Israel’s right to exist, Shimon Peres has threatened Iran with extermination. An analysis of the two threats shows that while Iran’s words are nothing but an attempt at political maneuvering the Israeli threat is serious.
Israel has proved in the past that it does not make empty threats, but means what it says. It is an established fact that Israel deployed nuclear mines at strategic points during some of the past Arab-Israeli conflicts though some Arab countries did not believe it at the time. On the contrary Israel’s clandestine nuclear plants manufactured bombs of infinite destructive potential at that time, according to reliable international sources. However, the fact that nuclear bombs remained an Israeli defense secret was a matter of real comfort for both sides — Arabs and Israelis.
Against the backdrop of the mounting tensions in the region in the early seventies, the curtain over the secretive Israeli nuclear schemes was raised. Nuclear bombs were reportedly stationed at striking distances of Egypt in Naqab in October 1973 and in Golan against Iraq in January 1991. To assert its nuclear monopoly beyond any doubt, Israel bombed Iraqi nuclear plant and the US approved the act throwing all international norms to the winds.
Going by past indications, military analysts increasingly view that Israel with the cooperation of the US is likely to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities. The German chancellor, reportedly, informed the Turkish president of the possibility of American bombers using its air bases in Turkey for this purpose.
The Washington Post also confirmed the New Yorker magazine’s view that the US administration is currently studying the option of selective military strikes against Iran dismissing the idea of a full-scale war against Iran. If Britain refuses to toe the US line in this matter as reportedly expressed by Jack Straw, Israel will have to assist the US in the task.
Despite all these possibilities, the US can solve the issue if only it has the will to do it. It needs only a serious US effort to persuade Israel to destroy all the weapons of mass destruction including the nuclear bombs. It will serve the interests of both the US and Israel.
A matching move could be made by the big powers in the Middle East or all the Muslim states to prevail over Iran to shelve its nuclear plans while Russia would be willing to supply Iran all its nuclear fuel requirements for peaceful intents.
But the question is, will the US accept a solution such as this. Or does it want to keep Israel fully armed with nukes to guarantee the US superiority in the region? I don’t think there is anyone capable of giving a convincing answer to this question.
