UK calls Iran world threat

London, Nov 22, 2008: Britain's foreign policy chief David Miliband has said that Iran continues to pose the most serious threat to the world, warning that Tehran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons risks an arms race across the Middle East. Calling for permanent seats for India, Japan, Brazil, Germany and an African representative in the UN Security Council, Miliband hoped the coming year will bring about reform of the world body.

Delivering a speech in northern England, he said that the standoff over Iran's nuclear program - which Tehran insists is aimed at developing a civilian energy program but which Western leaders say is an effort to make nuclear weapons - must be quickly resolved.

"In the next year, the most pressing threat to global order ... comes from the actions of Iran," said Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary. "Its refusal to address the international community's concerns about its pursuit of nuclear enrichment threatens to spark a nuclear arms race throughout the Middle East."

Miliband said that if Iran persists, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and others could be forced to consider whether they also need nuclear weapons to defend their interests. Israel is widely considered to have nuclear arms but has a "no tell" policy on the issue.

Miliband said the world's global powers should do more to pressure Iran to stop enriching uranium, adding: "This issue is not one for the long grass. It requires the world to use economic power to assert the need for order, to avoid having to use military power."

Britain is among the six negotiators seeking to curb Iran's apparent ambition to develop nuclear weapons. The five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - and Germany are responsible for the talks.

(Agencies)