Iran insists on nuclear 'rights'

[Sean]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4255976.stm

Iran's president proclaimed his country's "inalienable right" to produce nuclear fuel Saturday, defiantly rejecting a European offer of economic incentives if the Mideast nation would halt its uranium enrichment program. In a fiery speech to the U.N. General Assembly, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denied his nation had any intention of producing nuclear weapons. To prove that, he offered foreign countries and companies a role in Iran's nuclear energy production. The Iranian leader lashed out at the United States for its insistence on keeping its nuclear weapons even as it rejected Iran's efforts to build a peaceful energy program. He said Iran has a right to produce nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and implicitly accused the Europeans and Americans of "misrepresenting" Iran's desire for civilian nuclear energy "as the pursuit of nuclear weapons." "This is nothing more than a pure propaganda ploy," he said. "The Islamic Republic of Iran reiterates its previously and repeatedly declared position that in accordance with our religious principles, pursuit of nuclear weapons is prohibited," Ahmadinejad said. The Europeans and Americans have argued that Iran doesn't need to enrich uranium because it can obtain it from other countries, but Ahmadinejad said "the peaceful use of nuclear energy without a fuel cycle is an empty proposition." To reassure the international community of Iran's peaceful intentions, Ahmadinejad said his government is prepared to take "the most far reaching step outside the requirements of the NPT... in keeping with Iran's inalienable right to have access to a nuclear fuel cycle." The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has already installed cameras to monitor Iran's nuclear activities, he said.

[Jack]

This is a truly thorny issue with worldwide implications.

We cannot deny the right of any sovereign power to provide for its people. Iran is as free as any other nation to develop nuclear energy.

Yet we obviously do not trust Iran, and haven't for over 20 years. We have to consider the possibility that not only could they develop arms for themselves, but that they could export nuclear weapons to their allies, who generally are our enemies.

We've seen countries hide their activities from inspectors, so even the oversight of the IAEA is no guaranty that Iran will do as they say.

But perhaps they will, and another country will join those with nuclear power but no nuclear weapons. And then eventually, when we feel much safer than we do now, America might finally join that same group.

[jose]

Iran calls on UN to probe how Israel acquired nuclear weapons
Asked whether Tehran might trigger a rise in world oil prices in retaliation if Western nations referred suspicions about Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council, he said: "Any intelligent, healthy smart human being should use every resource in order to maintain his or her freedom and independence. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/625891.html The Iranian president also tried to focus international attention on Israel's nuclear activities.

He called for the establishment of a UN committee to formulate solutions for nuclear weapons disarmament and said the committee should "investigate how materials, technology and equipment related to atomic weapons made their way to the Zionist regime, in breach of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)."
is this the 300llb gorilla in the room?