CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Wednesday that Egypt’s position does not differentiate between the Iranian and the Israeli nuclear threat, considering both an equal threat to the region.
He said that “the Egyptian perception of the perils in the region does not differentiate between the threat of the Israeli nuclear capabilities, and the potential threat the Iranian nuclear dossier poses to national security.
“Especially if it led to deep tension in the region or surpassed the phase of peaceful use of nuclear energy to become a military capability, he added.
Aboul Gheit stipulated that the Egyptian position is one that holds that “the possession of any country in the Middle East of any nuclear weapon is unacceptable by Egypt, advocating a nuclear-free region, “especially that such a clash between Iran and the West or Israel has its repercussions on peace and stability in the region.
The foreign minister’s comments come after reports that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found traces of highly enriched uranium at Inshaas, the site of Egypt’s nuclear program, after environmental swipe samples were taken at the site in 2007 and 2008.
Further tests are being conducted to ascertain whether the uranium was weapons grade, that is, rich enough to be used in a nuclear bomb.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki contested the reports of the discovery, labeling it “fallacious and old. He said in a statement that “the IAEA always affirms – in its reports – the peaceful nature of the Egyptian nuclear activities.
In the statement Zaki expressed his astonishment “that media sources obtained information included in the IAEA report, which is expected to be announced in its meeting in June 2009, a matter that questions the motives behind leaking such issues.
An Associated Press story about the report had quoted Egypt’s response to IAEA, in which the government said that the uranium “could have been brought into the country through contaminated radioisotope transport containers.
