After Iran, other Arab states too declare to go nuclear

Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia are amongst six states who announced that they were embarking on programs to master atomic technology.

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This rapid growth took place after Iran's controversial nuclear programs. Such programs, especially by Arab states, are viewed as an alarm for a possible nuke war. The west cleared that the growing intentions towards nuke energy may result in making nuke weapons. This issue becomes more serious when such development is taking place in world's most unstable regions of Middle East.

These countries are developing nuke energy on the basis of civil welfare, as they are permitted under international laws. But the recent increase in the inclination towards nuclear armament forecasts the coming dangers of first Arab atomic bomb. Egypt and other North African states can argue with some justification that they need cheap, safe energy for their expanding economies and growing populations at a time of high oil prices, but the matter is different in case of countries like Saudi Arabia, because it owes worlds largest petroleum reserves.

This is one of the world's most unstable regions, where conflicts over land, ideology and religion have raged for centuries. Yet the Middle East may now be entering the most precarious era of its history, with the sudden rush by Arabs, Iranians and Turks to master nuclear technology and one day unlock the secrets to the atomic bomb. The fact that Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and smaller states such as Tunisia and the UAE want to acquire nuclear technology was suspected for some time, but the headlong race into the atomic age came as a shock.

For months Arab leaders have been speaking out against nuclear proliferation in the region. Most wanted a nuclear-free zone to force Israel to give up its nuclear arsenal and to discourage Iran, which is pursuing a controversial atomic programme many suspect will give the regime a nuclear weapons capability. But the calculations in the region changed dramatically this year. Defied pressure from the international community and began uranium enrichment work, which could be used to produce the fissile material needed to make an atomic weapon.

Then last month North Korea detonated a nuclear device, proving that even a country with limited resources can build an atomic weapon and use its nuclear status to blackmail the international community. In the case of North Korea the world did unite to place sanctions on the regime in Pyongyang. But so far, the United Nations Security Council has failed to find a common approach on Iran, which defied a UN ultimatum more than two months ago and has yet to suffer any consequences. The rest of the world has been watching these events with alarm and nowhere more closely than in the Middle East. It is widely accepted that an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would fundamentally alter the balance of power in the region. But even greater concern exists in Arab states. They fear the rise of Iran's brand of Islam and the impact it is having on Shia brethren in countries such as Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

There is no evidence that the sudden interest by Iran's neighbors and across the Arab world in nuclear technology is directly connected to Tehran's own nuclear ambitions. But the coincidence is too great to ignore, particularly in a region blessed by huge oil reserves where costly nuclear energy has never been needed before. A civilian nuclear program would not give any of the countries automatic access to nuclear weapons but building up nuclear reactors and training a core of nuclear physicists and technicians is a vital step in that direction.

Earlier, Prince of Saudi Arabia said that he is opposed to all nuclear expansion in the Middle East, be it for power stations or for weapons. However, with the recent announcement, the commitment seems a farce and we do not have any reason to believe. We can smell the beginning of a nuclear race in the region and that the Middle East is entering the most dangerous period of its history.

Via: Times Online