But I can't resist juxtaposing a few comments relevant to the possibility of the United States and Israel, or Israel alone, launching military actions against Iran's suspected nuclear weapons project.
Stephen Harper, speaking of the Iranian leadership in an interview with CBC News in January:
"In my judgment, these are people who have a particular, you know, a fanatically religious worldview, and their statements imply to me no hesitation about using nuclear weapons if they see them achieving their religious or political purposes. And … I think that’s what makes this regime in Iran particularly dangerous." [Emphasis added]Then there are the statements themselves. Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in late February:
“The Iranian nation has never pursued and will never pursue nuclear weapons. There is no doubt that the decision makers in the countries opposing us know well that Iran is not after nuclear weapons because the Islamic Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically, considers the possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous.”And in 2010, well before the prime minister spoke, Khamenei said:
“We have said repeatedly that our religious beliefs and principles prohibit such weapons as they are the symbol of destruction of generations. And for this reason we do not believe in weapons and atomic bombs and do not seek them.”Not that we have to believe these statements. But they seem to exist.
