On Israel and Iran
Sir: Your leading article (‘Israel Alone’, 29 September) implies that there is consensus among Israelis that Iran must be attacked. This is far from the case. There is vigorous internal debate, with opposition MPs, a judge, and senior military and intelligence officials publicly denouncing Netanyahu’s calls for a strike.
Padraic Rohan
Istanbul
Sir: Your leading article correctly states that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a destabilising and undesirable entity.
The elephant in the room that your item ignores is that there is a nation in the region, Israel, which decades ago clandestinely developed and tested such a weapon and has subsequently manufactured a substantial nuclear device stockpile. If Israel were obliged to decommission its nuclear arsenal, there would be universally more enthusiastic support for ensuring that Iran will never be able to come close to nuclear weapons capability.
David Hawkins
Kent
Saving Salman
Sir: I am sorry Salman Rushdie has overlooked my part in his initial escape from the fatwa that Valentine’s Day in the Greek orthodox cathedral in Moscow Road in 1989; and that, in his review of Joseph Anton, Rod Liddle (Books, 29 September) says it was Paul Theroux who tapped Salman on the elbow.
As a young reporter on the Evening Standard’s Londoner’s Diary, I was despatched initially to cover the funeral of Bruce Chatwin.
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