The west should use force against Iran if it "continues to develop nuclear weapons", Tony Blair said today, aligning himself with US hawks who have called for strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
The former prime minister made his comments in a BBC interview to publicize his memoirs, A Journey, which are published today.
Blair said it was "wholly unacceptable" for Tehran to seek a nuclear weapons capability and insisted there could be "no alternative" to military force "if they continue to develop nuclear weapons".
Speaking to Andrew Marr in a BBC interview to be broadcast tonight, Blair says: "I am saying that I think it is wholly unacceptable for Iran to have a nuclear weapons capability and I think we have got to be prepared to confront them, if necessary militarily. I think there is no alternative to that if they continue to develop nuclear weapons. They need to get that message loud and clear."
In a political memoir Blair echoed previous statements that the 2003 invasion was justified because Saddam Hussein posed a threat and could have developed weapons of mass destruction.
Tony Blair said he could have not have imagined what he called the "nightmare" that unfolded in Iraq but still did not regret joining the U.S.-led invasion.
It makes me laugh and cry at the same time when people say that Saddam didn’t have weapons of mass destruction before U.S. invasion and call it false report.
Nearly 16 years after the war ended, on July 2004, Abdolah Ramezanzadeh, the government spokesman for ex-president Khatami, stated that there were still 240,000 victims of Saddam’s chemical attacks living in Iran. Whomever that doesn’t believe, can go to Iran and see with their own eyes.