UANI

Excerpts Of UANI Panel With Gary Samore and Henry Sokolski At The United Nations

RELEASE
October 23, 2008
Contact: Joe Kildea
Phone: (212) 554-3296
Email: Press@unitedagainstnucleariran.com

NEW YORK, NY - United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) held a panel discussion on Iran's nuclear enrichment program on Monday October 20th at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City with Gary Samore and Henry Sokolski. The full transcript is available on UANI's website and selected excerpts are bellow.

GARY SAMORE: "There is no -- as far as I can tell the, you know, the Iranians are not, at this point, interested in any kind of an arrangement that would keep them from having a nuclear weapons option, and they certainly feel like they're in a strong enough position, right now, to proceed with relatively low risks."

HENRY SOKOLSKI: "Building an enrichment plant in Iran would be like you and I wanting to build an oil cracking plant because we wanted to have a secure supply of gasoline for our single car. It's just -- economically, it doesn't make sense."

GARY SAMORE: "I think the Iranians are very sensitive to the threat that the Security Council will impose significant political and economic sanctions.  I think they're uncomfortable being isolated, being branded as a country that's acting against the, against the demands of the Security Council.... But the Iranians are very skillful and capable of figuring out ways to drag things out for a long time."

HENRY SOKOLSKI: "I think we also have to make it very, very clear in our public diplomacy that Iran's behavior is not acceptable behavior that should be seen as the way to get ahead."

GARY SAMORE: "Well, I think the current Iranian leadership has a very deep-seated interest in acquiring nuclear weapons capability, which goes back to the mid-1980s.... But I also think that Iran's leadership has shown that, under the right circumstances, they can be very cautious, and they're sensitive to external pressure."

To read the full transcript, please go to http://www.unitedagainstnucleariran.com/files/oct_20_transcript.pdf.

UANI seeks to inform the public about Iran's nuclear ambitions and past behavior and mobilize public support behind a united American opposition to a nuclear-armed Iran. UANI staff and executive leadership will be made available for briefings to foreign policy analysts, elected officials, political campaigns, and other groups across the political spectrum. Please visit www.UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com for more information.

###