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Israel reserves right to defend itself against Iran: Netanyahu
Washington (AFP) May 18, 2009 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel reserves its right of self-defense against Iran, which the West suspects of harboring a nuclear military program. "Israel reserves its right to defend itself," said Netanyahu, speaking to reporters after a White House meeting with US President Barack Obama. While he said he welcomed US diplomatic efforts to rein in Tehran, Netanyahu said "what is important is the commitment to the result that Iran does not develop military nuclear capability."
earlier related report "I am not aware of any US aid that's gone towards nuclear weapons," Mullen told a gathering at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think-tank. He said that the one exception was a portion of US funds in the past few years focused on "improving" security safeguards for Pakistan's nuclear weapons, "which is exactly what we like." Last week Mullen confirmed that Pakistan was seeking to bolster its nuclear arsenal but he avoided further comment on the subject at Monday's event. At a congressional hearing on Friday, Senator Jim Webb asked the top ranking military officer if he had evidence that Pakistan was developing new nuclear weapons systems and warheads. "Yes," Mullen replied, without elaborating. Webb, a Democrat from Virginia, said Pakistan's moves were cause for "enormous concern" and yet were receiving less public attention than Iran's nuclear program. "We're spending a lot of time talking about the potential that Iran might have nuclear weapon capability and this is a regime that's far less stable and that should be a part of our debate," Webb said at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Webb and other members of Congress have questioned if billions in US military aid has been spent as intended by the Pakistani government. On Monday, Mullen reiterated that he was encouraged with the Pakistan military's recent offensive against the Taliban in the northwest but he said the bigger question was whether Islamabad would keep up the pressure on the Islamists in the longer term. "They need to sustain it. They need to provide sustained security for their people," Mullen said. He played down suggestions that the threat posed by the Taliban meant the Pakistani state was near collapse. "I don't believe they are a country near failure," he said. Pakistan said Monday its troops were locked in bloody street battles with Taliban fighters in the northwest, as its offensive entered a fourth week. Nearly 1.5 million people have been displaced in the onslaught, waged under intense US pressure to crack down on militants which Washington says pose the most serious terrorist threat to the West. Share This Article With Planet Earth
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IAEA chief says Israeli strike on Iran would be 'insane' Berlin (AFP) May 16, 2009 The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei called any possible Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities an "insane" move, in an interview with a German magazine. "Attacking Iran would be insane," ElBaradei, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, told Der Spiegel in an interview to appear Monday. "This would trigger an explosion across the whole re ... read more |
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