January 19, 2006
Israel deputy prime minister Shimon Peres has urged the international community to present a united front against Iran as the regime in Tehran posed "the greatest danger in our time." Peres said: "Unless there is a united policy to stop the Iranians from developing not only nuclear capacity, but also long-range missiles ... the danger of Iran will grow in size and scope and in time." He added that Israel was happy to have the United States and its allies lead a diplomatic effort. But he warned that if the countries opposing Tehran fail to forge a consensus, "the Iranians will make a mockery of every announced declaration by any party."
Meanwhile, the European Union (EU) has turned down Iran’s offer to continue negotiating on its nuclear program. Iran wanted to resume talks with European representatives, but the United States and the EU announced that they would instead call for Iran to be referred to the UN Security Council at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 2 February. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA countered, saying that the UN monitoring agency's inspectors would no longer be allowed access to nuclear facilities and military site at short notice if Tehran's activities were reported to the Security Council.
The leftist American writer Noam Chomsky has defended Iran. During a speech a Dublin University College in Ireland, Chomsky said: “No sane person wants Iran to have nuclear weapons.” But the country had to respond to alleged threats from Israel and the United States, which are both nuclear powers.
Read about the WJC's compaign for international condemnation of President Ahmadinejad
