Iranian defector: Iran would use nukes

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JERUSALEM, Jan. 26 (UPI) -- An Iranian defector says the country is only a year away from possessing a nuclear bomb.

In an interview broadcast Friday on Channel 2 in Israel, Mohammed Razza Hidari also said Venezuela is sending uranium to Iran, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Hidari defected two years ago in Oslo, Norway, saying he did so because of the crackdown on opposition groups in Tehran. The former Iranian diplomat spent part of his career at the airport in Tehran and was also stationed in Iran's overseas missions, including Georgia and Norway.

"Venezuela buys weapons from criminals and sends them to Iran," Hidari said. "Among the things sent were, for example, uranium purchased from mob organizations and sent to the Islamic republic."

Hidari said unless something is done to halt Iran's nuclear program, the country is less than a year away from having a workable bomb. He said Iran would use a weapon against Israel "or any other enemy state."

But Hidari also said the Iranian government views nuclear weapons as an "insurance policy."