Proceeding contribution from Robert Halfon (Conservative) in the House of Commons on Tuesday, 13 December 2011. It occurred during Legislative debate on Prevention of Nuclear Proliferation.
Prevention of Nuclear Proliferation
I welcome this debate because, contrary to what has just been said, I believe that Iran is in essence the new Soviet Union of the middle east. It supports terrorism. We know well its strong backing of Hezbollah in Lebanon. It supplies Hezbollah with the missiles and the finance that it needs to destabilise the region and to fire attack missiles on Israel. Iran also supports Hamas, and we know what Hamas has done in Gaza, overthrowing the more moderate Palestinian Authority, running a totalitarian mini-state known as Hamastan in Gaza, stopping moves towards peace and regularly firing missiles on Israel. Iran has also undermined democratic states. Not long ago it fired missiles on to the Kurdish regional Government. It is supporting the Syrian Government of President Assad and his crackdown on the recent anti-Government protests. It has provided the Syrian authorities with equipment, advice and technical know-how to help curtail and monitor internal communications. It has provided material assistance in the form of riot and crowd dispersal material, as well as military training for Syrian troops. Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria are in essence proxies for Iran. We well know that Iran has sent suicide bombers into Iraq and attacked our troops. All this would be bad enough were it not for Iran's nuclear programme. As has been said, the development of the nuclear bomb in Iran is incredibly concerning. The IAEA report has been highlighted and clearly shows that Iran has been covertly developing the technology needed to weaponise nuclear material. If we think the current Iranian regime is extreme, its so-called more moderate predecessor said that it would be okay to use a nuclear bomb in the middle east against Israel, because if a few million are killed in the process, it does not matter for the wider good.
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 537 c701
- Session
- 2010-12
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Decommissioning Arms control Finance Nuclear weapons Nuclear power Proliferation Sequestration of assets Iran
- Legislation
- Financial Restrictions (Iran) Order 2011
- Link
- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
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- 2023-12-15 14:03:28 +0000
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- http://data.parliament.uk/pimsdata/hansard/CONTRIBUTION_794281
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