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John Bolton: ElBaradei an 'Apologist' for Iran
John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says Europe has to "get serious” about the threat of Iran’s nuclear push or face grave consequences if Iran develops nuclear weapons. Bolton, appearing Thursday as a guest on Fox News Channel, said U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran can only go so far toward slowing Iran's uranium enrichment process, but will not stop Iran from developing nuclear bombs. "Certainly, it’s worth putting more sanctions through the security council, although the ones in place now are weak and watered down,” Bolton said. "We really need to get our friends in Europe to get serious about this matter. Over the past several months, they’ve wanted sanctions without pain. They don’t want to interfere with their trade and investments for Iran. That won’t work, and until they get serious, that won’t solve the problem.” Bolton said Thursday’s report by the IAEA that Iran may be only three to eight years away from developing a nuclear bomb should serve as a wake-up call to those who believe Iran’s nuclear goals are purely wholesome.
Story Continues Below "What the IAEA report this week shows is that the Iranians are very close to an industrial scope enrichment capability, which means the timing of getting to a nuclear weapon is largely in their hands,” Bolton said. "I think we need a dramatic ramp up of pressure, and if we can’t get that quickly from the Europeans, unfortunately we’re going to have to do something else like regime change or, as a last resort, a use of force by the United States [to stop Iran’s proliferation].”
Bolton blames the IAEA director general, Mohamed ElBaradei, for much of the frustrating foot dragging with regard to the forcefulness and effectiveness of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran. "One thing we have to do very clearly in the IAEA is tell the director general there to sit down and stop trying to interfere with our [U.S.] efforts to prevent proliferation,” Bolton said. "ElBaradei . . . has been an apologist for Iran right from the start of this, that’s why his continued efforts on a diplomatic front have been unhelpful.”
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