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Un Nuclear Conference Amid Fears of a Middle Eastern Arms Race

Egypt’s  president, Hosni Mubarak, has spoken out bluntly about the alternatives, implying that his country might feel the need to develop nuclear weapons.

As U.N. Nuclear Conference Opens, U.S. Is Pushing to Deter Mideast Arms Race,  NYTimes.com By WILLIAM J. BROAD and DAVID E. SANGER May 2, 2010 The opening Monday of a monthlong United Nations conference to strengthen the main treaty meant to halt the spread of nuclear arms is likely to be dominated by Iran’s president denouncing the West and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warning that if Tehran gets the bomb, the rest of the Middle East will soon follow.
But far less visibly, the Obama administration has been mounting a country-by-country campaign to go beyond the treaty and ensure that Iran’s push toward atomic mastery does not ignite a regional nuclear arms race. In recent months, diplomats have been holding meetings in Washington and shuttling to the Middle East in pursuit of agreements that will let countries develop nuclear power while relinquishing the right to make atomic fuel that could be turned into bombs…

…the United States worries that their fear of an Iranian bomb could lead them to use the same nuclear-fuel technology to develop weapons of their own…..
Late last year, the Obama administration closed the first deal, with the United Arab Emirates, which is preparing to build a $20 billion reactor complex on its Persian Gulf coast. Diplomats are negotiating similar agreements with Jordan and Bahrain and have the outlines of a deal with Saudi Arabia……
Egypt, which has announced plans for several nuclear power reactors, is pressing for a conference on the nuclear-free zone next year. Its president, Hosni Mubarak, has spoken out bluntly about the alternatives, implying that his country might feel the need to develop nuclear weapons. “We don’t want nuclear arms in the area, but we are obligated to defense ourselves,” he said …   As U.N. Nuclear Conference Opens, U.S. Is Pushing to Deter Mideast Arms Race – NYTimes.com

May 3, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | MIDDLE EAST, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons