| The West is convinced Iran can build a bomb once it decides to, and the growing fear now is that Iran is moving its uranium stockpiles and facilities further underground. Israeli defence officials say the "window of opportunity" is closing, and in one year, it may be too late to do anything to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Western powers are concerned that Israel is planning a military strike on Iran in the next few months. JN1's Jordana Miller interviewed Dr. Ephraim Asculai, a former official from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (the IAEA) and a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (or INSS). Dr. Asculai told us, "2012 is a critical year because I think that in some way Iran's intentions will be manifest, it will also be shown whether the sanctions are working or not. And a decision will have to be made to either go differently, or perhaps to reach an agreement with Iran that will stop the whole thing. Unfortunately, I think that nothing will work at the present regime in Iran." When asked about a preemptive strike by Israel, Dr. Asculai said, "I'm not sure, it really depends on a few factors. But, first of all, I think that talking about it is a good idea. Because I think that Iranians must feel the pressure of this possibility. Whether militarily speaking it's a good idea, I don't know, because it's a huge project in Iran, and I'm not sure that Israel alone can accomplish the aim of stopping Iran's weapons development ... |
