Gulf calls for nuclear-free zone
The head of the Gulf Co-operation Council has called on Nato to press for the elimination of nuclear arms in the Gulf region so that it does not become a “sandwich” between Israel and Iran.
Shaikh Abdul Rahman al-Attiyah, the GCC secretary-general, said on Friday: “I call on Nato to exercise direct pressure to eliminate WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) from our region, without exception.”
Attiyah, who was speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Qatar on Nato’s role in Gulf regional security, said: “We do not want our region to be sandwiched by arms here and arms there.”
While Israel strongly denies that it already has a nuclear arsenal, it is widely believed to have one.
Iranian power
Iran, which is pressing ahead with a campaign of civil nuclear development, is suspected by many countries of using that programme as a cover for developing atomic weapons.
 |
|
Iran continues its campaign for |
Tehran strongly denies those claims.
Asked if he was reassured by Tehran‘s insistence that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only, Attiyah said: “We hope so, because that is exactly what we want … a secure and non-nuclear zone.”
But he said: “Israel was the first to introduce these types of arms into the region, which has led other states to seek to imitate it.”
He expressed concern about a cycle of action and reaction that could lead to a spread of atomic weapons throughout the region.