BICOM

The UK Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould said yesterday that Britain would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, nor would it compromise on Israel’s security.

Speaking at a Jerusalem Post conference in Herzliya, Gould said Britain would not do a “bad deal” with Iran as one of the P5+1 powers involved in negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear development. Gould suggested that “It would be neither right nor wise for Israel to chart its way forward on the issue as if it were alone,” pledging “Israel does not face the threat from Iran alone.”

Referring to the House of Commons’ decision not to authorise military action against the Assad regime in Syria following its use of chemical weapons, Gould commented, “the British Parliament’s vote on Syria should not be taken as evidence of a lack of resolve on Iran.”

He emphasised that “Iran is not just Israel’s problem. Iran’s nuclear ambitions and its support for terrorism present a threat to the region and the world.” He recognised that for Israelis, the issue of security is “very real” and that “A nuclear armed Iran is a grave threat to Israel’s security.”

Speaking at the same conference, Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said that several Arab regimes share Israel’s concerns over Iran, commenting, “I think that you can hear that Arabic sounds familiar to Hebrew when it comes to Iran.”

Meanwhile, the highly regarded US-based Institute for Science and Security (ISIS) released a report yesterday which suggested Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb within a month. The report warned that the “shortening breakout times have implications for any negotiation with Iran,” and called for Iran’s enrichment capacity to be greatly reduced in order to lengthen potential break out times.