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March 30, 2006
UN Approves Statement On Iran
Thursday 30 March 2006 - 2:16 Makka Time, 23:16 GMT
The UN Security Council has formally approved a statement calling on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment efforts that the West suspects are part of a secret nuclear weapons programme.
The meeting of the 15-nation council took place on Wednesday shortly after the five permanent council members, the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France agreed on the statement, after three weeks of negotiations.
The statement, which needed the approval of all 15 council members, was read at a public meeting by Cesar Mayoral, Argentine Ambassador and this month's council president.
The text made significant concessions to Russia and China, which were anxious to avoid language that might later be used to press for sanctions against Iran, should it remain defiant.
After the five powers reached agreement, the United States hailed the statement as a breakthrough in efforts to block Iran's drive to become a nuclear power.
John Bolton: It sends an unmistakable message to Iran
John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, said:
"We are very close today to taking the first major step in this council to deal with Iran's nearly 20-year-old clandestine nuclear weapons programme. "It sends an unmistakable message to Iran that its efforts to deny the obvious fact of what it is doing are not going to be sufficient."
But Wang Guangya, China's UN ambassador, said the statement sent a strong message for the council to support the authority of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog in Vienna.
Western ambassadors said the five nations reached agreement only after a provision stating that the council was responsible for international peace and security was removed at Russia's insistence.
Russia and China both feared such a statement could later be used as a legal basis for sanctions or a military strike against Iran.
Bolton criticised Russia and China for deleting that paragraph, saying it was a direct quotation from the UN charter.
"We accept that it they don't want to quote from the UN charter, because the message is clear none the less that Iran's nuclear weapons programme is unacceptable," Bolton said.
He said that while the statement......
"may not win any awards in tennis heaven, the ball is back in Iran's court, and we'll be here in 30 days to see what they will do."
The statement calls on Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, to report back on Iran's compliance within 30 days instead of the 14 days in the original text.
"This is an unambiguous signal to Tehran that the Security Council of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security under the charter, is now dealing with this issue," Bolton said.
The West has refused to rule out sanctions if Iran does not comply and US officials have said that military action was an option, although Britain has disavowed it.
The IAEA reported the Iranian issue to the council on March 8 after Tehran resumed nuclear fuel work. This prompted European negotiators - Germany, France and Britain - to break off two-and-a-half years of negotiations.
Posted by Wild Thing at March 30, 2006 01:14 AM
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Comments
During the cold war with the Soviets I never worried much about a nuke taking out an American city. The Soviets were commies but not stupid and there was no way they could nuke us without getting nuked in return and it just wasn't worth it. But the Muslim mullahs are nuts. I wouldn't put it past them to use a nuke even if it meant Tehran would wind up 10,000 year half life pile of glassed over sand. The mullahs figure that they would still be in charge of what is left. I hate war but I also love freedom and I love freedom more than I hate war. If it means taking these nuts out than lets just take these nuts out.
Posted by: GUYK at March 30, 2006 10:27 AM
GuyK.
You've identified the problem with Iran. The Cold War was held together by the doctrine of MAD, Mutally Assured Destruction. Iran has turned that world upside down, by rejecting the principle entirely, and therefore there are no assurances that deterrence would work with them.
In fact, the 12th Imam bullshit pretty much guarentees that chaos and destruction figure into their mad plans.
Looking down the road, one of many strategic possibilties floating around is this: Iran goes nuclear, passes a dirty device to a rogue group which detonates the thing somewhere in The West. Done in this way, the culprits are unknown and no government takes responsibility.
The rational response to such an attack by all powers, including China and Russia, is total destruction of Islamic states capable of conveying a nuclear device beyond its borders. I happen to think this model is possibile, and maybe probable.
All Arab and Pan-Arab states should have serious concerns about Iran, because the firestorm next time will involve all of them, whether they were to blame or not for a dirty bomb.
Posted by: Rhod at March 30, 2006 04:16 PM