BICOM

Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor said yesterday that the United States understands that Iran cannot be allowed to breach international sanctions and proliferate nuclear weapons, as was the case with North Korea.

Meridor was speaking with Israel Radio from Seoul, South Korea, where he is representing Israel at the Nuclear Security Summit, as he also serves as Minister of Intelligence and Atomic Energy. The main theme of the Seoul Summit is preventing nuclear weapons from falling into the hands of what US President Barack Obama has called “bad actors.” The Iranian nuclear issue was not on the agenda, however it has been the centre of discussions on the sidelines of the conference.

Meridor, speaking with Israel Radio following a meeting with the US president, said “the line that Obama draws is clear – both with North Korea and with Iran,” but declined to discuss what was said behind closed doors. The US, the deputy PM added, would attempt to convince Russia to add on to the pressure already being applied to Iran, including the current implementation of international sanctions.

Earlier Tuesday, Obama discussed the risks of unsecured nuclear materials. “These dangerous materials are still vulnerable in too many places,” he said. “It would not take much, just a handful or so of these materials, to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people and that’s not an exaggeration – that’s the reality that we face,” he added.

In related news Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is on a two-day visit in Tehran, during which the Turkish PM is expected to discuss Iran’s nuclear development programme. Next month the P5+1 (The UN security Council permanent members and Germany) is expected to renew efforts to talk Tehran into curbing its uranium enrichment, which can yield fuel for atomic warheads as well as for civilian projects.