Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit Warns Iran against Engaging in a Military Nuclear Program

Following is an excerpt from an address by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on May 28, 2009.

Ahmad Abu Al-Gheit: If it is proven that Iran has a nuclear program for military purposes, we will consider it a threat to the stability of the Middle East, because it will lead other parties to engage in the military nuclear field, and this is not in the interest of the region. It will drain many of the financial resources of the region, to no avail. Therefore, we say that Iran should not resort to this nuclear option, because this will destroy opportunities... Some people say that this will create a balance. It will not create a balance, but rather, will increase the threats. As strange as this may sound, some people ask: Why are you in Egypt concerned about this? Iran is thousands of miles away from you. We say: True, but it is only dozens of miles away from other Arab countries, such as the Gulf states, and the principal country in the Gulf – Saudi Arabia.

These are our brothers and our friends, and we constitute their strategic depth. We must all confront the notion of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. To those who say that there is no such thing as an Iranian threat, we respond that if Iran obtains nuclear weapons, this will pose a threat to the notion of non-proliferation, and to the notion of nuclear disarmament in the Middle East. It also poses a threat to all the resources and capabilities that we would like to channel into peace and development. Instead, we would have to channel them into a weapon that is never used. This is important. Humanity no longer tolerates the use of nuclear weapons.