Israel Matzav

Many Arabs favor nuclear Iran

We keep hearing about how the Arab countries in the Gulf are 'nervous' about the prospect of Iran holding nuclear weapons. Well, guess what? Outside the Gulf, most Arabs are in favor of Iran going nuclear, at least according to this al-Reuters dispatch:

Some Arabs, mainly outside the Gulf, are positively enthusiastic about Iran's program, even if it acquires nuclear weapons, if only because it would be a poke in the eye or a counterweight to Israel and the United States.

Others, especially in countries closest to Iran, are wary of any threat to the status quo and the instability it might bring.

Most in the Arab world see the U.S. and European campaign against Iran as hypocritical, while Israel refuses to allow international nuclear inspections and is thought to have some 200 nuclear warheads. [There's a difference between a democracy having nuclear weapons - if Israel has them - and a Mullahcracy having them. Israel may have had nuclear weapons for as long as forty years - and has never used them. Iran is threatening to use them before it ever gets them. CiJ]

"I want the whole region free of all nuclear weapons but if the West continues its double-standard approach on this issue then Iran has the right (to have them)," said Abdel-Rahman Za'za', a 29-year-old Lebanese engineer.

"This could provide some balance against Israel and help the Palestinians in their negotiations. We have to take our rights because they are not going to be given to us," he added.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group, said this week it saw no harm in Iran developing nuclear arms.

"That would create a kind of equilibrium between the two sides -- the Arab and Islamic side on one side and Israel on the other," said deputy Brotherhood leader Mohamed Habib.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Tuesday policies toward nuclear programs in the region needed thorough review.

"These policies which are based on double standards will blow up and escalate this issue and this escalation will not include only Iran and Israel," he said. The Arab League represents 22 Arab governments, from Morocco to the Gulf.

I don't expect the Arabs to distinguish between Israel holding nukes and tyrannies like Iran or Saudi Arabia holding nukes. But I expect the West to be smart enough to know the difference. If Iran has nuclear weapons, the entire world is in danger. Israel may have them for forty years or more now (no one knows for sure) and has never even acknowledged having them, let alone threatened to use them. Israel would likely give up its nuclear weapons if it could be assured that no Arab country would ever acquire them. Given quests by Iran, Iraq, Egypt and Saudi Arabia - among others - to acquire nuclear weapons, any scenario of Israel giving them up (assuming that it has them) is unlikely.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:19 PM