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We have a year to tackle Iran,
says Cameron
David Blair
London
Telegraph
Wednesday May 23, 2007
Iran could be able to build a nuclear bomb in less than a year
and confronts the world with one of its most "urgent"
threats, David Cameron said yesterday.
In his first detailed statement on Iran, the Conservative leader
urged the Government to mobilise the United Nations Security Council
and the European Union to impose tougher sanctions on Teheran.
"Every week, every month that goes by brings Iran closer to
possessing a nuclear weapon," said Mr Cameron.
"We have to recognise that the next Government of this country
could face continuing violence in Iraq and Afghanistan and the prospect
of a nuclear armed Iran."
Mr Cameron declined to rule out supporting military action against
Teheran's nuclear facilities. But he stressed the drawbacks, saying
that "Iran having a nuclear weapon would be calamity but military
action could be calamitous".
Iran is defying three United Nations resolutions by continuing to
enrich uranium at its nuclear plant in Natanz. This highly sensitive
process could be used to manufacture weapons-grade uranium. Once it
has enough of this essential material, Iran could build a nuclear
bomb.
The Government's efforts to stop Iran from reaching this point
were not working, said Mr Cameron, and a new package of "penalties
and incentives" was needed. "Make no mistake, the threat
is growing, the scale and urgency of our response needs to match
it," he said.
In particular, he said that an arms embargo should be imposed on
Iran. The key figures running its nuclear programme should be banned
from travelling and their overseas assets frozen.
The EU, which is Iran's biggest trading partner, should restrict
export credits to Teheran, which are presently worth £9 billion.
All investment in Iran's crucial oil and natural gas industries
should be curtailed.
But the measures suggested by Mr Cameron would take years to impose
real costs on Iran. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime plans
to complete its nuclear facility in Natanz by the end of this month.
If successful, Iran would then have 3,000 operational centrifuges,
the machines used for enrichment. Under these conditions, a briefing
released by Mr Cameron said: "Iran would need approximately
six to 12 months to produce enough highly enriched uranium for its
first nuclear weapon."
Once the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant was fully operational,
Iran would have another option. It could stockpile low enriched
uranium. With this in hand, Iran could then formally withdraw from
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, expel the UN's nuclear inspectors
and quickly enrich the uranium to weapons-grade level.
This would give Teheran the "break-out" option, allowing
it to breach international safeguards and produce a nuclear weapon
in months. This rapid timetable would minimise the opening for international
pressure or economic sanctions.
Mr Ahmadinejad has denied that the nuclear programme was for military
use. He said that it was to generate electricity for a growing population.
• A security analyst told British MPs yesterday that Iran
was conducting reconnaissance of European cities and nuclear power
stations.
Claude Moniquet, the president of the European Strategic Intelligence
and Security Centre, a Right-wing Brussels think-tank, told a meeting
at Parliament that Iran appeared to be preparing to target "British
citizens on the streets of London... just as they kill British soldiers
in the south of Iraq".
INFOWARS:
BECAUSE THERE'S A WAR ON FOR YOUR MIND
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