Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Iran

Blix Says Nuclear-Free Mideast Is Possible

$Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel, which Hans Blix says is \$

Ehud Olmert, prime minister of Israel, which Hans Blix says is "assumed" to have 200 nuclear weapons (file photo) (epa)

June 1, 2006 -- Former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix says a nuclear-free Middle East is possible if political disputes in the region can be settled first.

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June 01, 2006

However, he said the current political situation in the Middle East does not yet allow the establishment of a nuclear-free zone.

Speaking at a news conference in New York, Blix said that, as a first step toward that goal, states in the Middle East should refrain from enriching uranium and converting plutonium.

Blix also noted that Israel is "assumed" to have 200 nuclear weapons.

(compiled from agency reports)

Who's Got The Bomb?

DECLARED NUCLEAR-WEAPONS COUNTRIES:

country warheads (est.) date of first test

United States 10,500 1945

Russia 18,000 1949

United Kingdom 200 1952

France 350 1960

China 400 1964

India 60-90 1974

Pakistan 28-48 1998

North Korea 0-18 2006

Notes:

Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons, but it has not declared itself a nuclear-armed country.

South Africa constructed six uranium bombs but voluntarily dismantled them.

Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine all gave up the nuclear weapons that were on their territory when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

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