U.S. REPORT: ISRAEL COULD BE KEY TO IRAN'S NUKESWASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States should press Israel to dismantle its nuclear weapons in an effort to prevent Iran from accumulating a similar arsenal, a report said.
.A report published by the U.S. Army War College ruled out a U.S. military or diplomatic option to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. Instead, the report, entitled "Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran," asserted that the dismantling of Israel's purported nuclear weapons program could be the only way to prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
.In a report financed by the Defense Department, the report recommended that the United States encourage "Israel to set the pace of nuclear restraint in the region by freezing its large reactor at Dimona and calling on all other states that have large nuclear reactors to follow suit." The report also called on Israel to agree to International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of the Dimona nuclear reactor, said to house the nuclear weapons program of the Jewish state.
.Israel has never confirmed or denied reports that it possesses nuclear weapons. But the Jewish state has pledged not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in the Middle East.
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Armageddon soon?