Range of fire

Posted By Mark I. Levenstein Wednesday, November 8, 2006 - 3:46 PM Share

Shahab range 2 The Wall Street Journal today displayed the image on the right to show the range of Iran's Shahab-2 and -3 ballistic missiles, which they tested in last week's military exercises. Why is this important? Well, as the WSJ editors wrote, ballistic missiles are "far from the most efficient means of delivering a non-nuclear explosive payload." What they are good for is nukes.

While the U.N. dithers about how to halt Iran's uranium enrichment program, some of Iran's neighbors may be considering a more, well, proactive track. Egypt is moving forward with its nuclear energy program for the first time in 20 years and, according to MEMRI, a recent column in a Saudi daily called for a similar resumption.

I'm not accusing either country of harboring ambitions for nuclear weapons (yet) and they may have legitimate reasons for investing in nuclear energy. But as analysis of Japan's capabilities shows that an advanced civilian nuclear energy program can easily be turned into a weapons program within half a year. Adding Iran to the neighborhood's nuclear club of Israel and Pakistan would make Arab Sunnis the only major ethno-religious group in the region without a nuclear weapon and nothing says "Middle Eastern history" like a religious or ethnic rivalry. In short, we need to stop Iran's enrichment program cold lest nuclear power plants start sprouting up in the Middle East like mushrooms after a storm.

EXPLORE:MIDDLE EAST, IRAN, NUKES, SECURITY, UNITED NATIONS

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