It looks increasingly as if there really is an "axis of evil" country with a nuclear weapons program that poses a serious threat to world security. The normally circumspect head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, spoke out yesterday against Iran at an IAEA meeting, calling Tehran's level of co-operation with his organization "less than satisfactory." Mr. ElBaradei also said Iran's answers to questions about its P-2 centrifuges, advanced devices that can be used to enrich uranium to weapons-grade, have been "changing and at times contradictory."
Mr. ElBaradei's rebuke is the strongest language he has used to date regarding Iran's nuclear development program. It is long overdue. Earlier this month, the IAEA released its latest report on Iran's nuclear program. The findings were worrying. Iran has not provided a clear explanation as to how and from whom it obtained its uranium. Iran has also delayed for a month scheduled visits by inspectors to its nuclear sites, an effort presumably aimed at concealing prohibited assets.
The mullahs are violating an agreement reached in October to address world concerns about Iran's nuclear activities. Under the terms of that deal, Tehran was required to suspend all uranium enrichment, spell out all of its previous nuclear activities and sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. (The protocol was signed, but has not yet been ratified by Iran's parliament.) But there seems little hope that Iran will voluntarily fulfill its obligations: On Saturday, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi declared that his country "has to be recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear club."
The existence of Iran's covert effort to develop nuclear weapons came to light in the summer of 2002, when an Iranian opposition group disclosed details of the mullahs' secret nuclear facility at Natanz. Iran continues to maintain that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. There is no good reason to believe that claim. A nation with oil reserves as bountiful as Iran's has no practical need for nuclear energy. Iran's real interest is in nuclear weapons. With fledgling democracies to its west (Iraq) and east (Afghanistan), bolstered by large numbers of American troops in the region, Iran -- listed by the U.S. State Department as the world's top sponsor of terrorism -- seeks a trump card.
It is time for the IAEA and the United Nations to start treating Iran's threat seriously. A nuclear bomb in the hands of Tehran's theocrats would alter the geopolitical map of the Middle East. It would endanger Western allies and imperil future prospects for peace in the region. At its meetings this week, the IAEA should pass a resolution establishing a deadline for Iran to come clean and co-operate fully with IAEA inspectors. If Iran refuses, the matter should be referred to the UN Security Council in order that sanctions can be adopted, a step Washington has long sought. The threat of economic suffocation is likely to be the only language the mullahs understand, and the only chance we have at averting a more serious conflict.
National Post (Canada).
Mr. ElBaradei's rebuke is the strongest language he has used to date regarding Iran's nuclear development program. It is long overdue. Earlier this month, the IAEA released its latest report on Iran's nuclear program. The findings were worrying. Iran has not provided a clear explanation as to how and from whom it obtained its uranium. Iran has also delayed for a month scheduled visits by inspectors to its nuclear sites, an effort presumably aimed at concealing prohibited assets.
The mullahs are violating an agreement reached in October to address world concerns about Iran's nuclear activities. Under the terms of that deal, Tehran was required to suspend all uranium enrichment, spell out all of its previous nuclear activities and sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. (The protocol was signed, but has not yet been ratified by Iran's parliament.) But there seems little hope that Iran will voluntarily fulfill its obligations: On Saturday, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi declared that his country "has to be recognized by the international community as a member of the nuclear club."
The existence of Iran's covert effort to develop nuclear weapons came to light in the summer of 2002, when an Iranian opposition group disclosed details of the mullahs' secret nuclear facility at Natanz. Iran continues to maintain that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. There is no good reason to believe that claim. A nation with oil reserves as bountiful as Iran's has no practical need for nuclear energy. Iran's real interest is in nuclear weapons. With fledgling democracies to its west (Iraq) and east (Afghanistan), bolstered by large numbers of American troops in the region, Iran -- listed by the U.S. State Department as the world's top sponsor of terrorism -- seeks a trump card.
It is time for the IAEA and the United Nations to start treating Iran's threat seriously. A nuclear bomb in the hands of Tehran's theocrats would alter the geopolitical map of the Middle East. It would endanger Western allies and imperil future prospects for peace in the region. At its meetings this week, the IAEA should pass a resolution establishing a deadline for Iran to come clean and co-operate fully with IAEA inspectors. If Iran refuses, the matter should be referred to the UN Security Council in order that sanctions can be adopted, a step Washington has long sought. The threat of economic suffocation is likely to be the only language the mullahs understand, and the only chance we have at averting a more serious conflict.
National Post (Canada).
