London, June 8 (DPA) A combination of diplomacy and pressure could still stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, although ‘the clock is ticking’, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in London Tuesday.
‘We have not lost the opportunity to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons,’ Gates said at a news conference after talks with Liam Fox, his counterpart in the new Conservative-led British government.
Gates said he hoped to see a new UN resolution on further sanctions against Iran passed soon, which would provide other nations with the legal basis to take additional measures.
‘The faster it can be passed, the better,’ Gates said in relation to the discussions at the UN Security Council in New York.
However, Gates said he believed it was still not too late to convince Iran that its own security would be undermined – and not enhanced – by pushing ahead with its nuclear programme.
‘The clock is ticking, but we still have the potential to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons,’ said Gates.
Fox said a new UN resolution backed by the entire global community would demonstrate to the Iranian leadership how ‘serious’ the situation was.
If Iran became a nuclear weapons state the world could witness the ‘end of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty as we know it’, said Fox.
