US Muslim scholar says Iran attack would be insane

By Talal Malik / Reuters

LONDON - A prominent American Muslim scholar who advised President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks said any U.S.-led attack on Iran would be crazy and throw the Middle East into political turmoil.

"I think it's insane," 45-year-old Hamza Yusuf told Reuters late on Monday. "Iran is a huge country and it can potentially set the entire region in flames."

Referring to Iran's nuclear program, which is at the heart of its dispute with the United States and other countries, Yusuf said if other countries were allowed to have nuclear power then Tehran should be allowed to develop it too.

Western countries suspect Iran is secretly aiming to build a nuclear bomb and have persuaded the International Atomic Energy Agency's ruling board to report Tehran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council. Iran says its nuclear facilities are intended to produce only electricity.

The United States and its ally Israel have said they would prefer the dispute to be solved through diplomacy but have not ruled out military action.

"The Iranians are not going to use nuclear weapons, but they have a right to nuclear energy in terms of their infrastructure," said Yusuf.

"I'd just like to see nuclear energy removed from the planet -- but if France has a right to illuminate its homes with nuclear energy, Iran has that right."

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