DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - IRAN/RUSSIA: IRAN MAY TEST A NUCLEAR BOMB WITHIN 5 YRS

Iran may test nuclear bomb within five years - Senator Margelov

MOSCOW. June 29 (Interfax) - With Tehran's ongoing work on its atomic program, Iran may soon create a nuclear weapon, head of the Federation Council International Affairs Committee Mikhail Margelov said.

In an interview with Interfax on Friday by phone from Strasburg, where Margelov spoke at a PACE (Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe) session during the debate on "Iran's Nuclear Program: the need for an international response," he stressed the importance of contacts with Iranian lawmakers to clarify the positions which are worrying the international community.

"This, along with our other steps, will contribute to the international response. We must welcome efforts being made today by the Sextet under the UN Security Council resolution," Margelov said.

He recalled that he had visited Iran not long ago where he met Iranian parliamentarians. "The Iranians obstinately dodged straightforward questions about their nuclear program. From this and other signs I had a feeling that Iran is working on a nuclear weapon," Margelov said, added that the bellicose tone in Iran's dialog with international organizations only strengthens that suspicion.

"This is the tone of a country that has a maximum of five years left before it tests its own nuclear bomb," Margelov said.



Pertinent Links:

1) Iran may test nuclear bomb within five years - Senator Margelov