An exiled Iranian opposition leader residing in Europe told Ynet recently that the Islamic Republic was still years away from developing a nuclear bomb.
"I find it hard to believe that they (Iran) will overcome so many technological obstacles in the coming years, but the way Israel is reacting causes the Iranians to believe that the Jewish state is the aggressor and is only out to harm the Islamic Republic," he said.
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"Instead Israel should support human rights and democratization in Iran
- and then wait. The change will come from within."
According to the opposition leader, Arab elements in Paris have also expressed their dissatisfaction with talks of a possible attack on Iran by Israel or the Americans.
"An Israeli attack on Iran would be a grave mistake," he said. "You will drag the entire region into war."
Like the US, it seems that France has also given up on the prospect of harsher UN sanctions against Iran, and has therefore turned to the European Union in an attempt to draft a list of sanctions separate from those proposed by the Security Council.
In addition, during a recent meeting of representatives from the six powers (US, France, Russia, China, Britain and Germany) in New York, a proposal consisting of 14 fresh sanctions against Iran was put on the table. However, Russia accepted only five of the suggested sanctions, while China supported only two.
The reasons for Russia and China's concerns regarding increased sanctions against the Islamic Republic are clear: Trade between China and Iran has doubled over the past 10 months, while Moscow is opposed to a weapons embargo that would annul any existing arms deals it has signed with Iran.
Leaders of the Gulf Sates are also under the assumption that a nuclear Iran would have catastrophic consequences.
"If Iran is attacked there will be 18 months of fire in the region, but if it builds a nuclear bomb we will face 30 years of instability," a senior official in Dubai said recently.
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