Washington, January 01: US Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul says he would not launch a strike on Iran since there is no military element in Iranian nuclear program.
Paul told Iowa voters on Friday that he would not initiate an attack on Iran because “they don’t threaten our national security,” ABC news network reported.
“If some other country thought they had to go to war with them [Iran], that is their business,” he said, adding there is no proof and reliable evidence of the existence of a military aspect to Iran’s nuclear program.
Paul’s stance on Iran is one that has drawn criticism from his GOP rivals.
Mitt Romney and other Republican candidates have said they would take military action against Iran if economic, diplomatic and other pressures did not stop the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program.
Romney criticized Paul on Friday in an interview on the Fox News Channel, saying, “I don’t think Ron Paul represents the mainstream of Republican thought with regards to issues, particularly in foreign policy.”
The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program. Washington and Tel Aviv have repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike against its atomic facilities.
Iran argues that as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has every right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
——-Agencies