Expert seeks weapon-free zone for peace

By Peter TownsonStaff Reporter

Hans Blix has expressed his fears at the current situation in the region

Former UN weapons investigator, Hans Blix has described the current situation facing Iran, Israel and the Gulf as “very scary”
 highlighting worrisome comparisons between the current crisis and the Iraq war and calling on authorities to work towards agreements as soon as possible.Blix, who became internationally famous when he stated that Iraq did not possess weapons of mass destruction in 2003, expressed his serious concerns about the situation unfolding in Iran and warned against allowing history to repeat itself.While the US went to war with Iraq over weapons that may or may not have existed, and ultimately did not, Israel is threatening action against Iran on the basis of intentions which may or may not exist, he said.
 “Having said that, there are a number of differences; Iraq was a country which was prostrate militarily and did not pose a threat to anybody, but in the case of Iran you have a country which is well-armed militarily and well advanced in all the nuclear stuff so these are big differences,” he said.Blix expressed his sincere concern for the region in light of the current standpoints of the three major players, comparing the US, Israel and Iran to three speeding cars on a collision course, daring the others to “chicken out.” “I hope someone will put on the brakes because it is very scary,” he added, also mentioning previous attacks by Israeli forces in Iraq and Syria. This situation is unlikely to lead to any sort of resolution, said Blix, expressing his hope to see the establishment of a weapon free zone for the benefit of all nations in the region.“Short term, we know that there will be some talks - hopefully soon - between the P5+1 plus Iran, and it seems to me that the tension is so great now and the positions are so rigid that you cannot expect anything but very modest things, you cannot expect parties to back out – that’s not going to happen, we need modest expectation,” he said.“In that situation I don’t think outsiders can do very much, but what I think they can do  on the Western side is stop humiliating Iran,” he said, adding “when the Iranians hear somebody in the West say ‘the Iranians must behave themselves’ that is like talking to a minor and it is not going to make for comfortable negotiations.”“They should re-emphasise the offers they (European powers) made in the past,” he noted, explaining that European governments had initially offered significant incentives for Iran to stop its enrichment programmes, including assistance in developing nuclear power plants among many other things, which it should reiterate to foster future negotiations.He added that the parties should also agree to meet for further discussions in the future, describing this is a potential step forward in the process.
“I think they should have a zone, in which all countries in the region stay away both from weapons and from the enrichment process,” he said, putting forward his solution to the current problems.“That would mean that Israel would have to do away with its weapons and its enrichment and reprocessing, and it would mean that Iran would have to do away with its weapons and its enrichment and reprocessing, and all the others including the Gulf states would come and commit themselves to not having weapons or enrichment plants,” he said. “This is an area in which the Gulf states could do something as I don’t think the Iranians would propose it and the Israelis would say that it was crazy, but actually I think everybody would gain if nobody had weapons and nobody had enrichment plants,” he added.  Blix presented a fairly bleak view of the situation, noting that his own thoughts have been described as “dreaming” and unrealistic.