HL Deb 20 March 1991 vol 527 c25WA
Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the attack by allied bombers on Iraqi nuclear facilities at the beginning of the Gulf war was occasioned by intelligence information that Iraq was diverting nuclear material and facilities from civil to military use or whether it was based on the assumption that this might occur.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (The Earl of Arran):

The coalition had good information that Iraq was seeking to develop nuclear weapons. In order to forestall this programme, carefully planned attacks were made against Iraq's nuclear research facilities.