Medvedev warns against a nuclear war in Mideast

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev warned on Thursday that military action against sovereign states could lead to a regional nuclear war, starkly voicing Moscow’s opposition to Western intervention ahead of a G8 summit at which Syria and Iran will be discussed, Reuters reported. The 38th G8 summit is to be held in Camp David, Maryland, from May 18 to 19. “Hasty military operations in foreign states usually bring radicals to power,” Medvedev, president for four years until Vladimir Putin’s inauguration on May 7, told a conference in St. Petersburg in remarks posted on the government’s website. “At some point such actions which undermine state sovereignty may lead to a full-scale regional war, even, although I do not want to frighten anyone, with the use of nuclear weapons,” Medvedev said. “Everyone should bear this in mind,” he added. Israel which is the Middle East’s only nuclear power has repeatedly issued threats of military action against Iran alleging that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. U.S. officials have also said that all options are on the table if diplomacy fails to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear program. Just days before Iran and 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) restart nuclear talks in Baghdad U.S. ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro told an Israeli audience that Washington is militarily ready to carry out a strike on Iran for its nuclear program if international pressure fails, the ABC News reported. “It would be preferable to solve this diplomatically and through the use of pressure, than to use military force,” Shapiro told representatives of Israel’s Bar Association on Tuesday. “But that doesn’t mean that option isn’t fully available. Not just available, it’s ready. The necessary planning has been done to ensure that it’s ready,” he said. Analysts believe such remarks ahead of talks in Baghdad are not promising. The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s uranium enrichment program. However, Iran says all its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, and, as an International Atomic Energy Agency member and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the legal right to produce nuclear fuel for its research reactors and nuclear power plants.