(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Farzin Nadimi - Iran already possesses the region's largest arsenal of ballistic missiles and rockets, and the Islamic Republic has developed the only satellite-launch capability in the Middle East besides Israel. In May, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan ruled out any negotiations over Iran's missile arsenal. It would be unrealistic to expect Iran to unilaterally stop its missile program, or dismantle its arsenal, but the Iranians might still be encouraged or even compelled to undertake transparency measures and adhere to certain capping mechanisms. Considering that the Iranians could well develop maximum-range IRBMs and ICBMs by the coming decade, the international emphasis now should be on establishing a viable monitoring regime for Iranian missile efforts.
2014-12-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive