WASHINGTON, May 6 (UPI) -- Iran poses the greatest threat to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, a nuclear-arms expert with the Council on Foreign Relations said.
Linton Brooks, a member of the CFR Task Force on U.S. nuclear policy, said that if Iran were to proceed with a nuclear-weapons program, the achievement would encourage others, possibly Turkey and Saudi Arabia, to do the same.
His comments come as the international community convenes for the Preparatory Committee for the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty.
Brooks said the international community may emerge from its review with a modest version of nuclear treaties, but he stressed it was imperative that arms control remain a global priority.
His comments were echoed by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who warned that the international community had grown complacent on nuclear weapons in the wake of the Cold War.
Brooks said Iran was skirting its international obligations with repeated violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions and safeguards imposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The latest reports from international regulators say the intent of the Iranian nuclear program is unclear despite rigorous monitoring. Though Iran maintains its nuclear program is for energy production, Brooks noted Tehran is preserving its military options by continuing its enrichment activity.
"It also appears to many of us that they are at least preserving the option for acquiring nuclear weapons," Brooks said. "I certainly believe that, and the task force makes the point that they can produce a weapon with highly enriched uranium within a few months."
