International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, Dec. 30, 2002

The Israeli Government remains "very concerned" about reports Russia had agreed to speed up construction of a nuclear reactor at the port of Bushehr in southern Iran and is considering building a second reactor, diplomatic sources said Thursday (26th).

The news was announced by the Iran just two days after the highest religious ruling authority for Sunni Muslims said Monday (23rd) that it is a religious obligation for Islamic nations to arm themselves with nuclear weapons.

The Egyptian clerics who head the Islamic Ruling committee at the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo responded to the statement by saying that knowing how to deal with "the enemy' was a religious requirement.

"If a neighboring country is known to possess nuclear weapons, then we must do everything possible to do the same," committee head Sheikh Ali Abu Al-Hassan told the Islam Online web site.

The ruling coincided with a statement by 200 prominent Muslim scholars and leaders in London's Arabic daily Al Quds al-Arabi Monday warning that a US attack on Iraq "will open the gates of Jihad" against America and her allies, ending in "the ousting of the Christian and Zionist invaders".

Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu raised Israeli objections about the Iranian nuclear program in meetings with the Russian administration in Moscow this week, underlining the growing instability and radicalization of the region.

"We try to tell them our fears, but they argue that if they don't build the nuclear reactor, then French, British, or US companies will do it instead," an Israeli official said, underlining the economic motivation behind the Russian move to secure the $800 million project which will provide desperately needed work for large numbers of unemployed Russian scientists.

Despite repeated assurances from Iran's President Khatami that the nuclear facility will be for civilian purposes and spent nuclear fuel will be returned to Russia, the Americans remain very concerned, fearing the leaking of Russian weapons expertise to Iran through co-operation on the project.

"Other things can help build the infrastructure for nuclear weapons," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker told the New York Times.