UK politician foresees nuclear Iran triggering new Middle Eastern cold war

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has described a possibility of a new cold war in the Middle East due to the Iranian nuclear programme. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon suggests negotiating with Iran by asking it to disprove the allegations of developing nuclear weapons.

“If [the Iranians] obtain nuclear weapons capability, then I think other nations across the Middle East will want to develop nuclear weapons,” Hague said. “The most serious round of nuclear proliferation since nuclear weapons were invented would have begun.” Ex-UK diplomat Sir Richard Dalton rules out the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile Ki-moon dismissed US and Israeli suggestions of attacking Iran, saying that “all these issues should be resolved peacefully through negotiations, through dialogue.” He said so after attending anniversary ceremonies of an agency to detect secret nuclear weapon tests, called the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation. Hague has also urged Israel not to strike. He said, “All options must remain on the table but a military attack would have enormous downsides.” He insisted on giving sanctions to Iran instead.