Iran's Pursuit Of Nukes Capability Stems From Fear

[Middle East News Service comments: There is no shortage of reasons to dislike the Iranian regime. It’s Holocaust denial campaign is just but the most recent one. People on the Left would also add its union busting activities especially in regard to bus drivers. But the “regime change” and WMDs campaign (brought to you by the same people who told those lies about Iraq) needs to be taken with extreme caution. The following article, taken from Israel’s largest circulating newspaper Yediot Acharonot, uses a more scientific approach to dissect the issue. Professor Zeevi also provides a few sensible suggestions as to how the crisis should be handled. They are very much within the kind of framework proposed by groups like the Medical Association for the Prevention of War to avert military conflict over the issue.

Worth reading – Sol Salbe.]

Tehran's pursuit of nuclear capabilities stems from fear, not hatred

Prof Dror Zeevi
Published: 01.21.07, 17:32
http://www.ynetnews.com/Ext/Comp/ArticleLayout/CdaArticlePrintPreview/1,2506,L-3354983,00.html

The Iranian regime is indeed driven by messianic religious ideology and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is set on bringing about Israel's destruction. And yes, Iran is seeking to achieve nuclear capability and is trying to fool the world. And yes, the Islamic republic supports Hizbullah with weapons, know-how, training and funds. But however severe this may be, it does not attest to his intent to use nuclear weapons against Israel.

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The Iranian need for nuclear capability stems more from fear than it does from hatred. Hostile Israel has nuclear arms; so do Sunni Pakistan and the US - a superpower situated on the Iranian border from the east and west - as does Russia, which borders Iran on the north. Nuclear weapons would enable Tehran to face these threats as an equal and to conduct itself as a regional superpower.

In any discussion aimed at looking into Iran's intentions, it should be noted that throughout the Islamic Republic's years of existence, since 1979, it has not initiated a single war.

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[Professor Zeevi is a lecturer at the department of Middle Eastern Studies at Ben Gurion University]

[The independent Middle East News Service concentrates on providing alternative information chiefly from Israeli sources. It is sponsored by the Australian Jewish Democratic Society. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the AJDS. These are expressed in its own statements]

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