Iraq all over again

[...]
While the Vienna negotiators expressed hope of Iranian compliance, Negroponte accused Iran in his BBC interview of being the world's top sponsor of terrorism.

'Their behaviour has been a cause of concern not only in Lebanon and Israel and in the Palestinian territories but in Iraq,' he said.

'We don't have a clear-cut knowledge, but the estimate we have made is some time between the beginning of the next decade and the middle of the next decade they might be in a position to have a nuclear weapon which is a cause of great concern.'

That warning came on the heels of another by former chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix who said the previous day that political tensions in the Middle East did not allow for the establishment of a nuclear-free zone, and regional disputes must be resolved first.

Blix, speaking in his capacity as head of a new Swedish organization, the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, said that Israel was 'assumed' to have 200 nuclear weapons, and 'should commit itself not to make more plutonium.'
[...]