New Delhi, October 24: Coming out in support of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, Israel on Wednesday welcomed the ongoing negotiations to end India’s nuclear isolation but said that a broader criteria-based policy was required to decide on entry of other countries into the nuclear club.

“Some critics have been saying Israel is against the Indo-US nuclear agreement. We are not at all against the agreement but had suggested a criteria-based policy (be evolved),” said Head of Israel’s National Security Council Ilan Mizrahi at a function on Wednesday.

However, Mizrahi cautioned that extending civil nuclear technology to all nations could turn dangerous as it was a platform to use nuclear power for military purposes. He made references to Pakistan and the A Q Khan episode, as well as the highly volatile and unstable Middle East.

“Pakistan is something we are worried about. Radical Islamism is growing in the state that has long-range missiles as well as nuclear military capabilities. If they succeed in taking over the government, it will mean that they will be in control of nuclear weapons,” he said.

Mizrahi said that terror attacks in the future would more often target energy sources to cripple economies. He said that terror outfits like al-Qaeda would make oil and gas installations their prime targets in coming years.

Coming out strongly against Iran’s nuclear programme, Mizrahi said that his country was convinced that Tehran was pushing hard for nuclear military capabilities, warning that it would lead to destabilisation and set off a nuclear arms race in the region.

He said that stronger financial sanctions against Iran were required. “The present sanctions will not force Iran to stop its journey towards attaining nuclear military capability,” he said.