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Israeli VP Shimon Peres (AP)
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| By Associated Press May 23, 2006 |
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If Iran succeeds in obtaining nuclear weapons, a long list of countries in the Middle East and outside would quickly follow, Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Monday.
Peres called for a world coalition of powers to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons. Israel is convinced that the Iranian nuclear development program is aimed at building a bomb, though Iran insists its goal is peaceful.
"If Iran acquires nuclear weapons, there are five or six candidates for achieving nuclear capability," Peres told Channel 10 TV. "In the Middle East, they would be Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In the Far East, Japan and North Korea."
Peres asked, "Who would supervise a world filled with nuclear weapons? It can't be done."
He said the solution is a coalition of the United States, Europe, China, India, Japan, Russia and Pakistan to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
Israel has expressed grave concern about the Iranian nuclear program because of repeated calls by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to wipe Israel off the map.
Israeli diplomats to file genocide suit against Iranian president
A group of Israeli lawmakers and former diplomats plan to sue Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, accusing him of conspiring to commit genocide, one of those involved said Monday.
Ahmadinejad recently said Israel should be wiped off the map and dismissed the Nazi Holocaust as a "myth."
Dore Gold, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, said Ahmadinejad's comments violate the 1948 U.N. Genocide Convention, to which Iran is a signatory.
"From our preliminary assessment, there's no question that Ahmadinejad violated the genocide convention, which specifically addresses the issue of incitement to genocide," Gold said.
The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported Monday that the suit would be filed in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands.
Also involved in the law suit are former Israeli Cabinet minister Danny Naveh and Meir Rosen, a former ambassador to the U.S. and France.
Participants said the legal team was still looking for the best venue, and that the suit would only be filed in a few more months.
Palestinians have in the past filed lawsuits against Israeli leaders and generals, including former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, accusing them of committing war crimes. None of the lawsuits have ended in conviction, and the one against Sharon, filed in a Belgian court, was eventually thrown out.
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