Alireza Jafarzadeh: How far is Iran in getting the nuclear bomb, Fox News Interview

Wednesday, September 8, 2004

Worries about Iran’s

nuclear weapons program

Secretary Colin Powell: They have been working on that for the last almost a year, and unfortunately I don’t think the response from Iran has been very positive or constructive.

John Gibson: Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and the White House, and especially Israel are worried about Iran’s nuclear weapons programs. So what happens if European diplomacy isn’t enough to shut down those programs? Will it take military action to solve this problem? Fox’s foreign affairs analyst, Alireza Jafarzadeh joins me from Washington.

John Gibson: Alireza, how close is Iran to having a Bomb?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: John, Iran is extremely close to getting the bomb. The internal reports I’ve been getting from inside the Iranian Regime suggest that they are all talking about 2005. They were talking about until the end of 2005, but there was a report that about a couple months ago, an order by the Supreme Leader Khamene’i has asked the Iranian regime’s officials to speed it up and now they are talking about mid 2005.

John Gibson: Summer? Next summer?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: Exactly, we’re talking about months from now.

John Gibson: Okay now, by the way, just so we’re not getting into another Ahmad Chalabi deal. How reliable is this information you’re getting from inside Iran?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: John, these are the sources that provided the previous information on all the major nuclear sites of Iran. In fact everything that the world now knows has come from these sources, the Iranian opposition that revealed the site in Natanz, that you see right here, the site in Arak which is a heavy water facility, the site in Karaj, Ab-Ali, and all the major nuclear sites. So they know what they are talking about and this is absolutely accurate information.

John Gibson: Okay, why is it that the British-French-German attempt at a diplomatic solution to the Iranian bomb problem. Why didn’t that work?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: Well the reason it didn’t work, it was very clear from the beginning. I never had any faith in this. I knew that Iran’s intention in getting the Europeans involved is to basically buy time. They never had any intentions of abandoning their nuclear weapons program, because simply this kind of negotiation gives Iran time, it doesn’t have any teeth, it doesn’t hurt them, and it doesn’t threaten their very existence. So why should they abandon their nuclear weapons program if they can get away with things. They can continue with their nuclear weapons program; they can continue with their enrichment program; they now have a parallel program of trying to get fissile material through heavy water; they started building parts for their centrifuge machines; and they started a new Uranium Conversion Facility in Isfahan, and they are getting away with everything. That’s why I think that policy has failed and we can’t afford continuing it.

John Gibson: OK, the other policy as we have seen elsewhere is some sort of military action. What kind of military action would actually be effective in preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear device?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: John, I think in dealing with Iran’s nuclear weapons program you cannot have a bandage solution. You have to take into consideration Iran’s mischief making in Iraq; their support for terrorism --they are the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism; their opposition to peace in Middle East, and the fact that the majority of the Iranians want to get rid of the Ayatollahs. So my suggestion is exactly what today General Tom McInerney and General Paul Vallely suggested in their commentary in the Wall Street Journal, saying that the US should support the policy of regime change, short of sending troops or military strikes but relying on the Iranian opposition, remove any obstacles on any opposition groups there, particularly the main Iranian opposition, the Mojahedin, which they suggested should be removed from the State Department’s terrorist list. That is the kind of policy that would really hurt Tehran, and that is the only way that Tehran will take you serious.

John Gibson: But Alireza the American people are up to their eyeballs on the war in Iraq. Do they have to contemplate a war in Iran?

Alireza Jafarzadeh: No, absolutely not. You see, this is not another item on your plate. Iran is already on the US’s plate. They are already in Iraq. They’re already threatening the United States and US allies in the region. There is no way around it. So, as I said, nobody is really suggesting a new war. All they are saying is that abandon the old policy of appeasement or rapprochement or engagement and try to rely on the Iranian opposition, those forces on the ground, who want to bring about the change in the country. That is the only way that we will see results.

John Gibson: Fox’s foreign affair analyst, Alireza Jafarzadeh; Alireza, good to talk to you. Thanks a lot.

Alireza Jafarzadeh: Always a pleasure, John.

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