Now, that makes me feel all warm inside
Iran is "certainly not now" developing any bomb and even the CIA believe that it might take up to 2010 or 2112 to have any capacity, Blix said Tuesday.
"So there is time to talk and that is an important point," he said in an interview with Today, BBC Radio Four's flagship current affairs program. "I think the west should continue talking with Iran," he said.
Blix, who now chairs the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, made his call ahead of Iran's expected formal response to a package of incentives being offered by the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.
"There is something curious about the offer they made in the spring to come to talks, including with the US which was seen as a big concession, but only if Iran first suspends enrichment," he said.
| Hey - just because they were breaking the Non-proliferation Treaty doesn't mean you should be, like, SUSPICIOUS or anything. Shame on you! |
The former IAEA director general, who was also the UN's chief arms inspector ahead of the Iraq war, further criticized the Security Council for making the same demand to first suspend in its resolution on July 31.
"They are asking the Iranians really to give up their chief leverage and what should be the chief subject of the negotiations" about resolving the dispute, he said.
During his interview, Blix also believed that it was "not very wise" of both the U.S. and Britain not to rule out military adventurism against Iran.
"There has been too much whipping or threats of whipping all the times," he said, adding that the issue should be about Iran being taken "seriously."
| And ponies. Don't forget the ponies. Oh -- and the worldwide Caliphate. Can't forget that one either. |
| Of course they're not threatened by their neighbors - they plan to dominate and in some cases annex them. And in any case, you've got to keep priorities straight. First, the worldwide conquest by Islam. THEN we talk about who runs things in the Ummah. |
"But Iran may be worried about the U.S.," he said. Washington should not up its threats against the Iranians as he believed it may have the opposite effect and "incite them." Asked whether he thought other countries, including Brazil and Japan, who already have uranium enrichment facilities, posed any threat to develop a nuclear weapons, Blix suggested that it depended on "political will."
"Any country with a big industrial capacity in technology could perhaps, but depends if they have the political will," he said, but he added that he did not think either Brazil or Japan had any intentions at the moment.
"What we do not know is if the US continues to develop capacity and there is no disbarment then the atmosphere may change," the former IAEA chief warned as a possibility.
| So what Blix really wants is to disarm the US. Interesting he is that open about it -- but then, Ahmadinajad has made it acceptable to say all sorts of things that people once hid. |