GSF Advisory Board Member Sir Malcolm Rifkind QC MP and former GSF speaker Sir Richard Dalton on the BBC Radio 4 Today Programme

Wednesday 9th November 

Commenting on the IAEA report that Iran has carried out tests "relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device",  Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP said that there was "no serious doubt" that Iran wants to have the capacity to build a bomb if they so chose, which would "totally destabilise the Middle East". However, Sir Richard Dalton, former UK Ambassador to Iran, said that only "a decision by Iran itself" can prevent it acquiring a nuclear weapon and suggested a "pause" in sanctions and a comprehensive offer to Iran - including the threat of even stricter sanctions - to bring them to the negotiating table.  To listen again, follow this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9635000/9635034.stm 

Sir Malcolm was also quoted in an article in the Evening Standard, saying that a military strike on Iran's clandestine nuclear facilities might be the least worst option: 'I think it's the last thing Obama wants to do, but at the very end of the day, if everything else was to fail and the prospect was not just of Iran with nuclear weapons, but that leading to all the Arab states also going nuclear, then the question of a military option - if it was feasible - might be the least bad option'.  To read the full article, follow this link: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24008032-rifkind-attack-on-iran-nuclear-facilities-could-be-best-option.doe.