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Iran's Nuclear Ambitions-No More Illusions

(Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies-Tel Aviv University) Ephraim Asculai - The main thrust of Iranian diplomacy has been to play for time and even now there is a risk that UN Security Council-centered diplomatic activities focused on reinstituting a full suspension of enrichment-related activity in Iran will come at the cost of postponing any other action aimed at forcing Iran to abandon its military nuclear program. Any "compromise" that permits Iran to carry out any uranium enrichment research activities, even minimal, would facilitate larger-scale development at a later stage, eventually culminating in the production of military-grade enriched uranium. Moreover, Iran may have a parallel concealed enrichment operation. Iran can get all the peaceful nuclear energy it says it needs without indigenous enrichment, and much more cheaply, at that. The only remaining illusion is that Iran is not unequivocally bent on achieving a military nuclear capability, and only a far more determined and unified international response will prevent it from succeeding.
2006-03-17 00:00:00
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