BARAK: IRAN MAY REACH NUCLEAR CAPABILITY WITHIN EIGHT YEARS

ISRAEL LINE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1996

  Foreign Minister Ehud Barak told members of the U.N. Security Council
Tuesday that Iran will possess the ability and the knowledge to produce
nuclear weapons within eight years, DAVAR RISHON reported.
  The Foreign Minister emphasized the danger that Iran poses to the world
and to the Middle East.  He expressed hope that the Security Council would
move to monitor the development of non-conventional weapons in Iran, as it
has in Iraq.
  The meeting was also attended by Arab and Muslim Ambassadors from Jordan,
Egypt, Tunisia, Qatar, Indonesia, Djibouti, Mauritania, and the Palestinian
observer.
  Following the meeting, Barak told reporters that Iraq has not lost its
resolve to bypass international oversight on the development of
non-conventional weapons.
  "Iraq's dictator has not lost his vision and hopes to rise like a Phoenix
from the ashes of defeat as a leading regional power with non-conventional
ability," Barak said.



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