Riz Khan - Israel-Iran tensions - 09 Sep 08 - Part 1
- 12 years ago
The United States has reached an impasse in trying to stop Iran from proceeding with its nuclear programme. That programme could fuel either peaceful nuclear reactors or nuclear bombs, although Iran insists that its nuclear programme is civilian and peaceful.
Washington is coming under intense Israeli pressure to do more against Iran. Israeli officials repeat the mantra, "Israel will not allow a second Holocaust" in the context of Iran acquiring the atomic bomb.
Speculation has been mounting for years that Israel might try to attack Iran's nuclear programme. But experts say it is not as simple as the Israeli attack of 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, or the Israeli attack of 2007, allegedly against the beginnings of a Syrian nuclear reactor.
Riz speaks with an Israeli journalist who argues that the US, and the world community, must react more strongly to Iran. Ronen Bergman is the author of The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power. Also joining the show is Hillary Mann Leverett, who left the Bush administration in 2004. She's a former National Security Council director for Iran and the Persian Gulf Affairs, and has criticised Washington's "major strategic blunders" in its relations with Iran.
Washington is coming under intense Israeli pressure to do more against Iran. Israeli officials repeat the mantra, "Israel will not allow a second Holocaust" in the context of Iran acquiring the atomic bomb.
Speculation has been mounting for years that Israel might try to attack Iran's nuclear programme. But experts say it is not as simple as the Israeli attack of 1981, which destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor, or the Israeli attack of 2007, allegedly against the beginnings of a Syrian nuclear reactor.
Riz speaks with an Israeli journalist who argues that the US, and the world community, must react more strongly to Iran. Ronen Bergman is the author of The Secret War with Iran: The 30-Year Clandestine Struggle Against the World's Most Dangerous Terrorist Power. Also joining the show is Hillary Mann Leverett, who left the Bush administration in 2004. She's a former National Security Council director for Iran and the Persian Gulf Affairs, and has criticised Washington's "major strategic blunders" in its relations with Iran.