Roberts: Israel’s Dimona Facility Could Serve as Iran’s “Nuclear Weapon”

DID Press: Paul Craig Roberts, a former U.S. Treasury Department official, referring to Iran’s missile capabilities and Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility, said Iran does not need to develop a nuclear weapon to establish nuclear deterrence.

Speaking to the Going Underground program, Roberts said: “Iran does not need a nuclear weapon because its nuclear weapon is right there at Dimona. All they have to do is target it with ballistic missiles, which they have the capability to do. In that case, there would be a nuclear explosion in Israel and the radiation would spread throughout the region.”

He added: “Israel is a very small country, whereas Iran is very large and roughly the size of Western Europe. It does not take a major action to destroy a small country.”

Asked whether such an attack would also affect the West Bank, Jerusalem and holy sites, Roberts said: “Well, if Israel uses nuclear weapons against Iran, those areas will be affected as well.”

The former U.S. official further said: “The constraints on the use of nuclear weapons are very powerful, and they have not been used since 1945. Any country that breaks this taboo will be condemned and destroyed by the international community. If Israel or Trump were to do this, the genie would be out of the bottle, and anyone could use them, with consequences that could ultimately affect the United States and Israel as well.”

Roberts concluded: “I believe there is a limit to the patience of Russia and China. They show considerable restraint to avoid conflict, but once that line is crossed, that is when the real war will begin.”