A nuclear-armed Iran, Pakistan and North Korea could potentially trigger regional chain reactions that ultimately threaten Russia's security, the former director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, said.
“Even if Iran, Pakistan and North Korea are not Russian adversaries, their current and projected nuclear potential could destabilize the regional situation. It could trigger a chain reaction of proliferation (Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Egypt, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan) that gives rise to a new missile threat for Russia,” Trubnikov said in an article included in the digest for an international conference on missile defense in Moscow.
History shows that relations with unstable states and radical regimes can rapidly deteriorate and their nuclear potential could become a real threat to Russian national security, Trubnikov said.
