A former UN official dismissed some media speculation that the nuclear standoff between Iran and the West cannot be resolved diplomatically.

“I think it’s not unsolvable. It is straining and difficult, but I hope that negotiations will restart,” Dr. Hans Blix told TML’s The International News Hour on Thursday. Blix said he does not “see that Iran would have very strong security reasons to move for nuclear weapons.”

He also said Iran doesn’t see Israel as a threat.

“I don’t think they really look at Israel as a threat.”

Asked whether sanctions would work against Iran, he answered, “No. I think sanctions, on the whole, would exacerbate the situation, especially if you have sanctions that would involve the threat of the use of force.

“Economic sanctions are a little different. You might say that you already have economic sanctions because the United States is prohibiting a lot of economic activity with Iran and I think there are some restraints in Europe as well.”

Backed by the United Stated, the European Union trio of Britain, France and Germany have drawn up a draft resolution introducing sanctions against Iran.

Iran has come under severe pressure for its legal uranium enrichment program. As a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Iran is legally authorized to enrich uranium for civilian purposes. The former UN official described the U.S. maneuvers in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf as provocative.

“I think the recent naval maneuvers that they had in the eastern Mediterranean and in the Persian Gulf are also a bit of a threat. I think, if anything, these things are counterproductive.”

Blix regretted the precondition set by the West for a resumption of nuclear talks between Iran and the European Union.

“I’m a little worried about the conditions set by the Security Council that Iran should first suspend its research program and thereafter the council members, the U.S., the UK, France, Germany, the Russians and the Chinese would be willing to sit down. If it is negotiations, I don’t see that a party, in this case Iran, would, in advance, do away with the chief object of the negotiations, namely, its continuation of enrichment.”

Hans Blix is one of the world’s top experts on weapons of mass destruction (WMD). He headed the United Nations Monitoring and Verification Commission from 2000 to 2003. He was secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency during the years 1981 and 1997 and is currently chairman of the WMD Commission, an organization funded by the Swedish government.

(Source: The Media Line)