Israel and the Iranian Nuclear Threat
As the world reels under the weight of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, another drama is unfolding in the Middle-East that has long been predicted. It threatens to light the powder keg that has been growing steadily more explosive over the last decade.
This drama began in 1979 with the overthrow of the Shah of Iran and the return of the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and his subsequent elevation to the position of Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
While Khomeini was quick to brand America as “the Great Satan”, he was also an implacable foe of what he called the threat of Zionism. As he proclaimed at the time, “No matter what words you use to describe it, it’s the same enemy.”
Khomeini went on to announce that Israel should be “wiped off the face of the earth”. It was his revoutionary zeal to crush the world of Zionism that has become the crusading fervour behind the words and policies of his devout follower Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the current President of Iran.
According to Ahmadinejad, the Ayatollah Komeini was committed to a policy of revolutionary force in overcoming the enemies of Islam. And this force justified the use of sophisticated weaponry, including nuclear technology.
Since the death of Khomeini in 1989, Iran has steadfastly pursued the goal of becoming a nuclear power. In the face of increasing opposition in the West, Iran turned initially to Abdul Qadeer (A.Q.) Khan, widely considered today to be the founder of Pakistan’s nuclear program.
In 2005, Khan confessed that he had been involved in a clandestine network of nuclear weapons technology, and that by means of this network had supplied gas centrifuges to North Korea. It was the North Korean Government that then passed on this technology to Tehran.
Over the last three years, Iran has assiduously worked to increase its number of gas centrifuges, as well as its stock of fissionable material. While it continues to claim that its objective is to use this material solely for peaceful purposes, the latest reports indicate that Iran now has enough weapons grade material to build a nuclear device.
The Atomic Energy Agency recently admitted that it had underestimated Iran’s nuclear stockpile by about one third. It went on to confirm that the country now possesses 2,227 lbs of enriched Uranium 235, sufficient to create at least one nuclear bomb.
At the same time that Iran has been pursuing its nuclear ambitions, it has also been developing its long-range missile program. On February 2 of this year, Iran successfully launched a satellite into outer space, ostensibly designed to “monitor earthquakes”.
Few overseas observers believe that the timing of this launch was coincidental, or that its purpose was simply to monitor the land. It seems clear that Iran is rapidly approaching its goal of attaining nuclear weapons, as well as the capacity to deliver those weapons anywhere within the Middle-East.
There is one final ingredient which has now been added to this explosive mix. This involves the S-300 advanced air defence system developed by Russia. This state of the art defence system can track scores of incoming planes simultaneously, and can shoot them down irrespective of whether they are high-altitude bombers or low-altitude drones.
Although Russia has agreed to supply Iran with this sophisticated air defence system, it has temporarily suspended delivery, pending discussions with the United States. The outcome to these discussions will determine just how soon Iran will be able to acquire these S-300 missiles.
