Guto Bebb MP, CFI’s Vice Chairman, has criticised the UK’s support of the Iranian nuclear deal “at the expense of our long term allies in the region”.
In an interview with Israeli news agency Tazpit, the Aberconwy MP described UK Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond’s hopes for Iran as a reformable regime as “misguided”.
Identifying Iran as having an “aggressive” regime, Mr Bebb advocated the continuation of sanctions, which he said were proving to be effective measures against Iranian aggression.
Mr Bebb told Tazpit that he is amazed “that the Foreign Secretary seems to consider this a success story; his predecessor Liam Fox considers this to be completely unacceptable”.
Mr Bebb, who led a parliamentary debate in June to discuss the Iranian nuclear deal then under discussion, added that the latitude given to the Iranian government would have been unacceptable to the UK government a year ago.
Recounting meetings with representatives of British allies in the region, Mr Bebb insisted that fears of a nuclear arms race were not restricted to Israel and that a nuclear Iran “was not an issue for Israel alone”. He also predicted that the deal will likely result in a nuclear arms race in the region beginning with Saudi Arabia.
Addressing Israel, the MP said that it is important to “understand the difference between a peaceful and democratic state that is trying to live within its own borders and Iran that will use its nuclear capacity to dominate the Middle East”.
