Powell Targets Iran on the Way Out
Powell will be leaving his position to ‘hawkish’ National Security Council Adviser Condoleezza Rice for Bush’s second term in office. Powell said yesterday that the US has accepted the intelligence as further proof of Iran’s decisiveness to produce nuclear bombs. Powell’s initial statement about the nuclear missile system was noteworthy as deepened suspicions that Iran will be the next US target after Iraq. Powell has said that Iran will be the priority issue in Bush’s second term for the new Secretary of State. Hawkish groups at the State and Defense Departments support military intervention in Iran for "nuclear deterrence". An adviser to Kremlin Racab Safarov told Zaman that pressure from West could force Iran to produce nuclear weapons.
Powell told reporters while on the way to Chile, ”I have seen some information that would suggest that they have been actively working on delivery systems." He added, "You don’t have a weapon until you put it in something that can deliver a weapon…I’m not talking about uranium or fissile material or the warhead; I’m talking about what one does with a warhead…We are talking about information that says they not only have missiles but information that suggests they are working hard about how to put the two together." Powell said he had no doubt in his mind that "that they have been interested in a nuclear weapon that has utility, meaning that it is something they would be able to deliver, not just something that sits there."
Powell also said it was not yet clear what steps would be taken concerning the agreement on suspending uranium enrichment among Iran and three European states.
Powell’s statements were interpreted to mean that Iran has minimized its nuclear warhead to fit a ballistic missile and that this is a very difficult technology. Powell’s reference to intelligence reports was met with reservations as US intelligence on Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction was apparently untrue. The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency has said they have no information regarding Iranian work on nuclear weapons.
