LIBYA: Kadafi said Iran will face “military humiliation”
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From the man who gave up his own nuclear ambitions to the West came a rebuke of Iran for refusing to bow to international pressure.
Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi described as “arrogance” Iran’s turning a deaf ear to a pack of incentives offered by the West in exchange for shutting down critical parts of its nuclear program.
Kadafi went on to warn the Islamic Republic that it may face the same military humiliation as Iraq.
He said during a visit to neighboring Tunisia on Tuesday:
What Iran is doing stems simply from arrogance. ... In the event of a decision against Iran, this country will suffer the same outcome as Iraq. ... Iran is not any stronger than Iraq and won’t have the means to resist (a military attack) on its own. ... The challenges are greater and exceed Iran’s ability to reply.
Iran delivered a letter to world powers on Tuesday without giving a definitive answer to a demand it halt or at least stop expanding its production of enriched uranium or else face the possibility of more international sanctions.
Tehran maintains that it wants nuclear technology to generate electricity; the U.S. and other Western powers fear its using it’s refining its uranium enrichment capabilities in hopes of being able to develop an atomic bomb.
Kadafi, who has ruled his oil-rich North African state since a 1969 military coup, was granted an end to its isolation and a bunch of lucrative business deals after agreeing to give up on his nuclear and chemical weapons programs in 2003.
— Raed Rafei in Beirut
Photo: Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi arrives for a meeting with Tunisian intellectuals in la Marsa near Tunis, Tunisia, on Aug. 4. Credit: European Pressphoto Agency.