13 February 2006: for immediate release
The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament reacted with great concern to reports yesterday that the US are officially drawing up plans for a military attack against Iran. Ignoring worldwide concern from both governments and NGOs about the likely violent repercussions of attacking Iran, the Pentagon war planners are said to be selecting targets for military action.
Kate Hudson, Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, said, “This latest development in US policy in the Middle East is of great concern. Many governments and well-known think tanks have produced assessments of what would happen if Iran is attacked – widespread violence and instability throughout the Middle East. The UK government must immediately put pressure on the Bush administration to scrap these military plans and put their full effort into finding a peaceful, fair solution to the question of Iran’s nuclear programme.”
In its Nuclear Posture Review of 2002, the US suggests that nuclear weapons could be used in a first-strike capacity “against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack.” Much has been made in recent months of Iran’s secret nuclear facilities, allegedly buried deep underground.
“The US must realise that the only way to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East is through a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in the region. Instead of drawing up war plans with the possibility of using first-strike nuclear weapons, the US should draw up plans for all nuclear-armed countries, itself included, to disarm.”
CND, along with the Stop the War Coalition and the Muslim Association of Britain, have called a national demonstration for March 18 with the slogan, “Don’t Attack Iran.”
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Notes to Editor:
1. For further information and interviews please contact Rick Wayman, CND’s Press & Communications Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859
2. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe’s biggest single-issue peace campaigns, with over 32,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere.