WASHINGTON — A new report warns that the United States must halt Iran's nuclear weapons
programs or face the prospect of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
The Presidential Study Group, sponsored by the Washington Institute,
said in a report that Iran's nuclear weapons program marked the most difficult
proliferation challenge in the Middle East and must be stopped.
"Iranian nuclear proliferation could constitute a 'tipping point' in the
Middle East, with states from Saudi Arabia to Egypt and possibly Syria and
Algeria likely to respond with efforts to acquire nuclear capability and
threatening the nuclear nonproliferation regime," the report said.
On Tuesday, the Defense Department said it has not conducted unmanned
aerial vehicle operations in Iran, Middle East Newsline reported. Both Iranian and U.S. officials have
reported U.S. UAV overflights over suspected Iranian facilities.
The 53-member panel organized by the Washington Institute included two
former secretaries of state (Alexander Haig and Madeleine Albright), a former CIA director (James Woolsey) and a former national
security adviser (Sandy Berger). The report was entitled "Security, Reform, and Peace: The
Three Pillars of U.S. Strategy in the Middle East."
"Stopping Iran short of achieving a nuclear weapons capability -- by
diplomacy if possible; by other means, if necessary -- is a vital U.S.
interest," the report said.
The panel said an Iranian atomic bomb would spark nuclear weapons
programs throughout the Middle East. The report cited Algeria, Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and Syria.
The report recommended that the United States work with the European
Union to halt Iran's nuclear weapons program. But the panel said U.S.-EU
cooperation must not rule out the use of the military option against
Teheran.
"Achieving international consensus on Iran should not, however, come at
the cost of curtailing support to Iran's freedom-seeking opposition, nor
should it require forswearing military options to address the problem," the
panel said.
"I don't speak for the U.S. government, I speak for the Department of
Defense, and the Department of Defense is not [conducting UAV operations in
Iran]," Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said. "And I would welcome you
asking that same question for other agencies of the government that do those
kinds of activities, and I think that they would give you the same answer.
But it's not for me to speak for other agencies."
"The United States is facing an extraordinary moment of challenge in the
Middle East, one that demands an integrated U.S. strategy built on a set of
three pillars: security, reform, and peace," the report said. "The security
agenda is the most pressing, but it alone is not sufficient. If the United
States wants not just to combat the threats it faces in the region but also
to change the regional dynamic which produces such threats, the
administration should also pursue political, social, and economic reform in
Middle East countries and the promotion of a secure Arab-Israeli peace."
The report said Iran marked the second U.S. priority in the Middle East
for 2005. The most pressing issue was the acceleration of U.S. training and
deployment of Iraq's military and security forces.
"Proliferation -- including the dangers posed both by terrorist groups
and adversarial states -- is the most serious threat to U.S. national
security," the report said. "Among Middle East states, Iran poses the most
difficult and urgent challenge."
