Is Iran
the greatest threat to the world in terms of nuclear proliferation - or is the
United States? Begun last year to counter the Nuclear Security Summit in
Washington, Tehran has made its own counter-conference an annual event.
According to this news item from Iran's state-controlled Kayhan, Iran's foreign
minister has asserted at the meeting that states like the U.S., which already
possess nuclear weapons, are those most seriously in breach of their
obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
TEHRAN: On Sunday, Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Salehi called the United States the biggest violator of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, pointing out that it is the only country to have
used nuclear weapons against another nation.
"The United States has
played an active role in the proliferation of nuclear weapons and should be
regarded as the biggest violator the Non-Proliferation Treaty," Salehi
told the Second International Conference on Disarmament being held in Tehran. "Surprisingly,
this is a state that portrays itself as the greatest advocate of nuclear non-proliferation,"
he added.
Salehi also said the Zionist
regime, "is the only obstacle to the materialization of a Middle East free
of atomic weapons," and he called on the international community to
pressure Israel into joining the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "The
Zionist regime, which is fully supported by Washington, is the root cause of
terrorism, aggression and insecurity," he added.
Salehi went on, "Today, more
than any other time in history, the international community is threatened by
nuclear arms."
“There are at least 23,000
nuclear warheads in the hands of several countries. Almost 10,000 of these weapons
are operational, while more than 2,000 are on the highest alert and can be
launched in minutes,” he went on to say. "We regard weapons of mass
destruction as haram (unlawful under Sharia law)," Saleh
said.
Nuclear states, he said, insist
on maintaining tactical and strategic nuclear weapons and instead of
dismantling them, upgrade them through bilateral agreements.
“Such a situation doesn't
contribute to the promotion of international security. … The unilateral
interpretation of the NPT offered by nuclear weapons states to maintain such arsenals
run counter to the treaty. Under Article
VI of the Treaty, nuclear-weapons states have obligations that they have failed
to fulfill.” Salehi said that the Islamic Republic of Iran believes that
nuclear disarmament necessary for ensuring global peace, reiterating that this
is an issue that is "non-disputable."
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by WORLDMEETS.US
Foreign Minister Salehi warned
that any use of nuclear weapons, either accidentally or deliberately, would
lead to an “unimaginable catastrophe.” He warned, “Nuclear disarmament is the
only way to save human civilization from the threat of annihilation as a result
of accidental or deliberate use of such weapons.”
He also urged all possessors
of chemical weapons to meet the deadline of April 29, 2012 to destroy all
stocks of chemical weapons.
After hosting the first such summit
last year with the theme, “Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for None,” Iran
is now holding the second International Conference on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation.
Analysts, ambassadors and representatives of international organizations, including
the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency, are in attendance.
Iran plans to hold the third
summit at the ministerial level, when Tehran will again promote its message
that all nations are entitled to peaceful nuclear energy.
Finally, Salehi criticized the
IAEA's referral last Thursday of the Syrian nuclear case to the U.N. Security
Council as an example of the double standards of Western powers. The U.N.
nuclear watchdog voted to report Syria to the U.N. Security Council for
violating its safeguard agreements, citing Syria's undeclared construction of a
covert nuclear reactor and refusal to supply information.
