The delivery of a nuclear reactor to Iraq will speed up the introduction of nuclear weapons into the Middle East, Chief of Staff Gen. Rafael Eitan warned this weekend. Interviewed on Radio Israel, Eitan said the super-powers should seriously consider the situation, since Iraq is not a country which behaves nationally. Nuclear weapons and materiel with which to build them in the hands of Iraq “presents a threat to our existence and Israel must take that into consideration at every stage,” Eitan said.
Last week Francis Perrin, one of France’s leading nuclear scientists, warned that Iraq could have the nuclear bomb in a few years from now. He said that the quantity of uranium supplied by France along with the assistance in technicians, equipment and training facilities should enable Iraq to have a nuclear striking force of its own by the mid-1980s. France late last month officially announced its plans for uranium deliveries to Iraq despite claims that Baghdad is in the process of manufacturing atomic weapons.
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