Peres: Nuclear Iran worse than Nazis

By · May 5, 2008

A nuclear-armed Iran could be more dangerous than Nazi Germany, Shimon Peres said.

“If a combination of a fanatic leadership, a terroristic center and a nuclear bomb will come together, it’s a nightmare for the world,” the Israeli president told foreign reporters Monday in reference to Iran’s atomic ambitions.

“It’s in a way more complicated than in the time of the Nazis. Hitler didn’t have a nuclear bomb.”

Peres has voiced confidence in the efficacy of U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at curbing Iran’s uranium enrichment and shied away from talk about possible pre-emptive strikes by Israel or the United States.

In his speech Monday, he noted Israel’s efforts in developing alternative energy sources and called on the West to do likewise in order to undercut the oil clout of Iran and unfriendly Arab states.

“Oil is not only polluting the air, it is also promoting terror,” the 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner said. “We are not going to fight the producers of oil, but we are going to introduce alternatives.”