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Iran's Nuclear Announcement
By Bill Hemmer, FOX News' America's Newsroom
April 9,
2007
Bill Hemmer: More now in our
developing story out of Tehran. Hard line
leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announcing only
moments ago that his country is entering the
state of industrial nuclear fuel production.
That news part of a massive celebration called
a "national day of nuclear energy." Tim Roemer,
former Indiana Congressman and member of the
9/11 Commission, good morning to
you.
Tim Roemer: Thanks
Bill
Hemmer: So, what to do
now?
Roemer: Well, first of all, the
proliferation of this technology and nuclear
weapons is increasingly a US concern and an
international concern. I worry, Bill, that this
is a negotiating tactic by the Iranians, that
Ahmadinejad announces that they have new
industrial capabilities and are creating 3,000
new centrifuges while their negotiator Larijani
says they’re willing to negotiate with the
West. Now what this is, is simply running out
the clock, a good-guy, bad guy, good-cop, bad
cop tactic.
I think the United States
has to continue to be clear that this is not
something we’re going to tolerate: Iranian
weapons of mass destruction and centrifuge
capability. We have to continue to work with
the world community through the United Nations
to ratchet up the political, the economic and
the diplomatic leverage and keep all options on
the table.
Hemmer: You know Tim, while
you’re talking there is a live image now, a
live video from Natanz, the nuclear facility
where the speech is happening as we talk here.
Marc Ginsberg will be on air in a few minutes,
Tim. He asks, which model are you going to
take? Is it the Libya model where you talk him
into it, the North Korea model where you work
with him over a period of years or the Iraq
model? What is it, A, B or C for
Iran?
Roemer: Well, it could be a
combination a couple of those models Bill.
Certainly the Libyan model worked for a number
of reasons. Iran could be of some help to the
United States in terms of regional negotiations
on the Iraq war. So the sum flexibility with
Iran may in the long run be helpful to us.
However our immediate concern is the
development of nuclear weapons. And either the
Iranians can curtail that development willingly
or the international community is going to do
it and continue to make them a pariah at a time
when Iran wants to step into the world in some
responsible fashion. So far they’re not
stepping up to that need and that cause.
Hemmer: Tim good to have you. Tim
Roemer we’ll continue to digest this news too
and possibly next hour talk.
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