Iranian regime ‘frightens me,’ Harper says

Iranian regime ‘frightens me,’ Harper says

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says a consensus is growing among world leaders that Iran would have no hesitation using nuclear arms once they develop the weapons and the capability to deliver them.

“I’ve watched and listened to what the leadership in the Iran regime says, and it frightens me,” Mr. Harper said in a CBC interview.

“In my judgment, these are people who have a particular, you know, fanatically religious worldview, and their statements imply to me no hesitation of using nuclear weapons if they see them achieving their religious or political purposes,” he said.

Asked why world leaders are not doing more about it, Mr. Harper said a consensus among world leaders has been growing “at least privately.”

Mr. Harper acknowledged that the current round of sanctions is not dissuading the Iranian regime from developing “the nuclear course.” However, the world remains uncertain about what exactly to do, he said.

Every country agrees on sanctions and is imposing sanctions “at some level,” he said. “Beyond that, these are not easy questions for the world,” he said.

Military action has been discussed, Mr. Harper added. “President [Barak] Obama’s said all options are on the table and I can certainly tell you that, when we talk about these issues, we talk about the full range of questions around these issues.

“But there is certainly no consensus on, you know, ultimately how to deal with this matter.”

Canada’s position on dealing with Iran is that allies should work together, Mr. Harper said. “I’ve raised the alarm as much as I can, but obviously I don’t advocate particular actions publicly. I work with our allies to see if we get consensus on actions,” he said.

Mr. Harper said he has no doubt that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. “There is absolutely no doubt they are lying,” Mr. Harper said, referring to statements by Iran that the nuclear program is for peaceful uses. “The evidence is just growing overwhelming. This is not, as was the case of Iraq, merely the opinion of allies,” he said.

The development of nuclear weapons as one of the purposes of Iran’s nuclear program “is just beyond dispute at this point,” he said. “The only dispute is how far advanced it is and how far off it will be until they actually develop those weapons and develop the capability of delivering the weapons.”

Also during the interview, Mr. Harper linked the debate over the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas with concern over Iran’s threat to blockade the main shipping route for oil in the Middle East.

“It’s pretty obvious what the right decision is … not just from an economic and environmental standpoint, but from an energy security standpoint,” Mr. Harper said.

“When you look at the Iranians threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz, I think that just illustrates how critical it is that supply for the United States be North American,” Mr. Harper said.

Mr. Harper said the controversy in the U.S. over approval of the Keystone pipeline was “a wakeup call” to Canada. The issue indicates the degree to which Canada is “dependent or possibly held hostage” to decisions in the U.S.

The Conservative government is going to make “an additional push” to make sure Canada diversifies its energy markets,” he said. “It puts an emphasis on the fact that we must perform our regulatory processes to get timely decisions on diversification of our markets.”

Mr. Harper said he did not object to the regulatory process for the Northern Gateway pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Coast. His concern was to have “timely” decisions made.

“We can’t have processes that are just filibustered endlessly. That is not in anyone’s interests,” he said.

The government would seriously consider the recommendations of the environmental review, he said. “This government has in the past changed projects or even stopped projects if reviews were not favourable or indicated that changes had to be made,” he said, in an oblique reference to the government’s controversial decision to reject the Prosperity Mine in B.C.

He repeated his concern about foreign financed groups delaying the process. He did not agree that he was holding a double standard by not objecting to foreign companies advocating for the pipeline.

“Just because certain people in the United States would like to see Canada be one giant national park for the northern half of North America, I don’t think that’s part of what our review process is all about,” Mr. Harper said.

“I don’t object to foreigners expressing their opinion. But I don’t want them to be able to hijack the process,” Mr. Harper said.

Iranian regime 'frighten's me,' Harper says - The Globe and Mail

Now that's a good quote.

Which people is he referring to?

Did harper not run on the economy? What, did he mean military Keynesianism?

Think of the loot options!

People should be frightened of Iran.

Some people are just easily frightened......BOOO!!!!!

Not EAO, Iran is a bastion of religious and politcal tolerance.

It sure is.

He repeated his concern about foreign financed groups delaying the process. He did not agree that he was holding a double standard by not objecting to foreign companies advocating for the pipeline.

I think this is a more telling quote. He is so hypocritical that he doesn't even know he is. That is one of the reasons Harper frightens me more than Iran. In fact, I feel nothing about Iran except that they are getting the bum's rush from the west.

Last I checked, one of Mr. Harper's worst crimes was to hold a Free Vote on Gay marriage - while Mr. Ahmadinejad publicly hangs gays.

What a hypocrite Mr. Harper is.

I doubt Mr Imanutjob had anything to do with hanging gays. He is just a mouth piece for the lunatic fundies he works for.

Seriously? That's your argument?

Are we arguing?

Well I hardly think your tearing at your shirt or flailing about.

The hypocrisy is that Harper funds Mr. Ahmadinejad's hangings.

Well, your argument is that Harper is not a hypocrite because the actions of people in Iran are consistent with their worldview that you view as immoral? Your argument has more holes than premises.

Then there are countries that continue to develop and detonate nuclear weapons, and yet we sell uranium to them. The IAEA continues to show non-diversion of uranium in Iran, and the so-called evidence of a weapons program is undisclosed hearsay from an unnamed third party (nation).

As a matter of the public record, there is absolutely nothing to hold up Harper's allegations. It strikes me as more of his US fanboyism.

Steven Harper: US fanboy #1.

Because I'm against unsubstantiated BS like most of Harper's comments above, doesn't mean that an agnostic like myself supports the Iranian Theocracy.... which is more democratic than the US plutocracy IMO. IN Iran, candidates are vetted by the religious Mullahs and then the people vote. In the US, UK and to some degree in Canada, only people with the support of wealthy people have a chance of becoming an elected leader. That would make us more of a Plutocracy than a true Democracy, despite claims to the contrary about the fairness and openness of our electoral system.

What is funnier is that any time anyone discusses the middle east, you have to compare them with the US and/or Israel.

You are incapable of not making any discussion into an anti-US or anti-Israel discussion, as you have just proven.

People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks at their neighbors.

If we criticize their system, then our system should be more fair than their system. I'm saying our "democracy", isn't really all that democratic. BTW, most Iranians believe they live in a true democracy too.

And there you go. You are intellectually incapable of discussing one thing without bringing in another, the US and/or Israel. It simply is beyond your capacity.

I think it is fair to point out that when someone is pointing a finger at someone, that there are three fingers pointing back at the person doing the pointing. People are always pointing at Iran. It is an avoidance of dealing with their own issues. The west really doesn't have a whole lot more going for it.

Unsubstantiated Harper BS: ...a consensus is growing among world leaders that Iran would have no hesitation using nuclear arms once they develop the weapons and the capability to deliver them.

eao: Iran's leaders have repeatedly condemned all countries which possess nuclear weapons. They claim they have no interest in acquiring nukes and their religious leaders consider nukes to be against Islamic principles.

Unsubstantiated Harper BS: "There is absolutely no doubt they are lying"
eao: I've never seen any evidence which indicates that the Iranians have lied about their nuclear activities. Harper gives no evidence to support his claims. While I believe there is a strong case that the Iranians have not made a full disclosure of all their activities before they ratified some of the NPT's voluntary confidence building protocols, they also are not obliged to reveal those activities now either as per the terms of the NPT. I believe most of the evidence supports Iran's statements about the peaceful nature of their nuclear programs. Iran likely has no intention to build nuclear weapons. If they did, they'd have built and tested one by now.

Harper BS: This is not, as was the case of Iraq, merely the opinion of allies,”
eao: Only a few nations and world leaders believe Iran plans to build nuclear weapons. Even US intelligence which believes Iran was working on nukes at one time, claims that Iran stopped all nuclear weapon research by 2003, when they agreed to open up their program to IAEA inspection. The fact is that peaceful nuclear research and nuclear weapon research are the same up to a point. Iran officially appears not to have crossed any NPT violating lines.

I agree with Harper regarding the pipelines in that the process should be timely and fair. If the foreign oil companies have a right to present their case, then so should foreign environmental groups.... provided neither unduly delays the process. I think the pipeline should not go through pristine wilderness areas and instead stick to already developed corridors. If this costs Enbridge more money, then the Canadian government should help offset the additional costs associated with using a less environmentally senstive route with grants, subsidies and tax breaks.

Please explain how Steve is doing this.

The UN is calling for them to shut down all enrichment activities, this is supposed to be mandatory, and Iran is not doing so. Indeed, this is the one thing that gets touted around as the evidence that they are up to something fishy.

Which is really putting the cart before the horse.

They actually are required to reveal all activities that involve uranium acquired through NPT mechanisms. I believe that those mechanisms are just agreements with other uranium exporting countries that they will allow IAEA monitoring. When I refer to non-diversion, I am talking about the fact that we know where all the uranium acquired through the NPT has gone. In fact, that is basically all we know. They may be building other facilities, but we know that none of the uranium sold to them by NPT exporters has gone there.

Maybe he only gives out red reps without saying anything....

What, no neg rep?

He gave it to me. I wonder what crawled up his ass.

Bravo Cliffy. I've always thought that Pointing out basic anatomy is a good Debate tactic when discussing middle east politics, much like baseball analogies work when discussing crime. I mean, three strikes and your out works for baseball so it makes sense to use it to establish criminal justice policies.

Brilliant observation. Did you go to school to learn about that or did you come by it naturally?