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| By: Israel Insider staff |
| Published: August 29, 2007 |
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"If the Iranian missiles strike Israel, by Allah, I will go to Trafalgar Square and dance with delight," stated Abd Al-Bari Atwan, a frequent commentator on the BBC and Sky News, and the editor-in-chief of the London-based Arabic-language newspaper, Al-Quds Al-Arabi.
Bari Atwan, who founded the newspaper, which now has a distribution of about 50,000, was speaking about Iran's nuclear capacity in an interview on ANB Lebanese television on June 27.
In response to questions on the possibility of an Iranian-American agreement on Iran's nuclear project, Bari Atwan stated, "If there is a deal, it will be at the expense of the Arabs and if there is a war, it will also be at the expense of the Arabs. I'm sad to say that we have no backbone now. If Iran reaches a deal with the Americans, what will be the bottom line? That Iran will have a nuclear program, and even if it does not manufacture nuclear weapons in the next 5-10 years, it will do so later."
"One of the fruits of such a deal would be a significant Iranian role in the region. Iran will remain a regional military power, which will threaten, or rather, will control and have hegemony over the region.
"If a war breaks out, where will the Iranians retaliate? If Iran is able to retaliate, it will burn the oil wells, block the Strait of Hormuz, attack the American bases in the Gulf and, Allah willing, it will attack Israel, as well," Bari Atwan said.
Though Sky News refused to comment, a BBC spokesman responded to Bari Atwan's statements by saying to the Jerusalem Post, "We should not automatically assume that academics and journalists from other organizations are impartial and make it clear to our audience when contributors are associated with a particular viewpoint."
"The BBC is required to explore a range of views, so that no significant strand of thought is knowingly unreflected or underrepresented."
"The BBC will sometimes need to report on or interview people whose views may cause serious offense to many in our audiences. We must be convinced, after appropriate referral, that a clear public interest outweighs the possible offense," said the spokesman. |
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