Blair on Iran: Don’t rule out war
by Peter Wozniak
Tony Blair has indicated that he would refuse to rule out any action, including the use of military force, in thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
In his memoir, Mr Blair cites Iran as a current threat to international security, amid passages where he defends his stance on intervening to topple ‘rogue’ regimes as “more necessary than ever”.
Mr Blair remained unrepentant on his decision to take Britain into the Iraq war, and the rhetoric that lay behind that decision appears to resurface when the former prime minister turns his attention to the Iran issue.
“If change will not come by evolution, should it be done by revolution? Should those who have the military power contemplate doing so?” he wrote.
It is alleged that Iran’s ostensibly civilian nuclear programme is a veil for a desire to pursue a nuclear weapon and a regime of sanctions by both the US and EU has been imposed, though with no appreciable change in policy from Tehran.
Mr Blair concludes: “It is America that leads the challenge to Iran and its nuclear ambitions.
“Iran with a nuclear bomb would mean others in the region acquiring the same capability; it would dramatically alter the balance of power in the region, but also within Islam.”
The former prime minister stops short of actively advocating regime change in the same manner as with Iraq, though the sentiments expressed in ‘A Journey’ appear to suggest that he would not rule out such an action.
