By: Claude Salhani – Middle East Times

GENEVA — Nuclear power and the Middle East is not all that much of a novelty; in fact long before Iraq, Iran and lately Syria toyed with the notion of acquiring nuclear technology for civilian use (if you believe the Syrians and the Iranians), or for military purposes (if you believe the cynics). Long before them, Egypt hoped to join the exclusive club of which to date, Pakistan remains the only Muslim country to have nuclear weapons.

Yet, as early as in the mid-1960s Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser displayed a keen interest in obtaining nuclear technology. And the Egyptians under Nasser probably would have acquired the know-how and the facilities, and possibly the bomb; had it not been for the Six-Day War.

GOING NUCLEAR: Arab states show growing interest in acquiring nuclear technology, thanks to Iran’s nuclear development. Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks in a 2007 ceremony at Natanz uranium enrichment facility outside the city of Kashan, south of Tehran. (UPI Photo)

The June 5, 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict changed the map of the Middle East, literally, as the State of Israel, at that time still in its teens, more than doubled its size. Israel captured the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from the Egyptians; the West Bank and East Jerusalem from the Jordanians; and the Golan Plateau from the Syrians. The war also put a damper on any sales of nuclear technology to the Arabs — be it for civilian or military use, lest they be tempted to use those weapons against Israel in the next conflict, which there certainly was going to be more than one.

However, since the 1960s there has been a re-nouveau, a renewal, in the Arab World as to how nuclear energy — and with it nuclear weapons — are perceived. Some analysts called it a “renaissance,” though that is probably the wrong word. Re-naissance indicates a re-birth, whereas nuclear technology is new to the region. Except for Israel that remains the only nuclear power in the Levant to this day. But that’s another story.

Since President Nasser’s attempts in the 1960s there has been no real desire on the part of Arab countries to go nuclear. Arab leaders seemed quite content leaving that responsibility, cost and headache to the super powers and anyone else who wanted to venture into that field. And it stayed pretty much that way until recently.

The Arabs’ desire for nuclear parity rests more on the fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged to develop its program, than on trying to counter-balance Israel’s nuclear strike force. Realistically, the Arab leadership is cognizant of the fact that they would never get away with deploying nuclear weapons against Israel, at least not as long as the United States continues to stand by its side. And nothing in the foreseeable future would indicate otherwise.

Rather, one would imagine that proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East would be more to counter Iran’s nuclear capability than to challenge Israel. Indeed the rise in Arab interests in the nuclear field began to emerge only after word leaked out that Iran was developing its nuclear program despite strong objections from the international community.

It is certainly interesting to note that until February 2006, according to a comprehensive study carried out by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies titled “Nuclear Programs in the Middle East — In the Shadow of Iran,” there was practically no interest in nuclear technology in the Arab world. However, “… within the last 11 months, between February 2006 and January 2007, no fewer than 13 Arab countries announced plans to revive, pursue or explore civilian nuclear energy.

What makes this sudden interest in nuclear technology by more than half the member countries of the Arab League intriguing is the abundance of traditional energy, mainly oil and natural gas.” One could therefore conclude that the only reason the Arabs show any interest in nuclear energy is because of Iran.

Much has been said about Iran’s quest for nuclear technology, and the desire of the ruling mullahs to develop a thermonuclear weapon. Despite repeated denials from the ayatollahs and the maverick president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, there is still great worry over Iran’s projects and what Israel might do about it.

“…there is reason for concern that it (Iran’s nuclear program) could in time prompt a regional cascade of proliferation among Iran’s neighbors,” states the IISS article. For Saudi Arabia, a nuclear-armed Iran represents “a direct and dire threat,” the article goes on to state.

As the IISS article stipulates that from Morocco to Iran and form Turkey to Yemen, there is not a single nuclear power plant in operation today.

Therefore, the question: Why the sudden urge from the Arab world in nuclear energy? Ask Iran. For countries like Turkey (not an Arab country), Saudi Arabia, Yemen and others, it would be unacceptable to have Iran become a nuclear power while they sat on their hands.