Israel has just days to launch a military strike and stop Iran from developing a nuclear bomb, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has warned.
The deadline was set by outspoken former envoy John Bolton, who claimed that time was running out for the West to crush Tehran’s atomic ambitions.
He said Iran is planning to bring its first Bushehr reactor online on Saturday, when a shipment of nuclear fuel will be loaded into the plant’s core.
At that point, he said it would be too late for Israel to attack the facility because it would spread radiation and affect innocent Iranian civilians.
‘Once that uranium, once those fuel rods are very close to the reactor, certainly once they’re in the reactor, attacking it means a release of radiation, no question about it,’ said Mr Bolton.
‘So if Israel is going to do anything against Bushehr it has to move in the next eight days,’ he told Fox News in the U.S.
If the Israelis fail to act, Mr Bolton said: ‘Iran will achieve something that no other opponent of Israel, no other enemy of the United States in the Middle East really has and that is a functioning nuclear reactor.’
But the former diplomat, who served as George Bush’s ambassador to the UN between 2005 and 2009, said he doubted Israel would attack Iran.
‘I’m afraid that they have lost this opportunity,’ he added.
Tehran continues to insist it is only building its atomic plant for peaceful purposes to provide cheaper electricity. But Britain, the U.S. and other western powers claim the Iranians are covertly creating a nuclear warhead.
Mr Bolton blasted Russia’s role in the development of the plant. ‘The idea of being able to stick a thumb in America’s eye always figures prominently in Moscow,’ he said.
Last night, Iran dismissed the possibility of an Israeli assault.
‘These threats have become repetitive and lost their meaning,’ said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparasi.
‘According to international law, installations which have real fuel cannot be attacked because of the humanitarian consequences,’ he added.
Iranian officials said they have stepped up security at the Bushehr plant to protect it from any attacks.
The UN Security Council hit Tehran with a fourth set of sanctions in June over its nuclear programme, and the United States and European Union followed up with tougher punitive measures targeting Iran's banking and energy sectors.
Source: mailonsunday
