US official says Iran sill not cooperating fully with IAEA
TelevisionWashington.com / WashingtonTV
21-Aug-2009 (one comment)

15:28GMT—11:28AM/EST

Washington, 21 August (WashingtonTV)—A US official said on Friday that Iran was still not fulfilling its obligations related to its nuclear program, despite allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to visit a nearly completed nuclear reactor, after a one-year ban.

Diplomats said yesterday that Iran allowed the inspectors to visit the Arak heavy water reactor last week, and also agreed to allow the nuclear watchdog to expand its monitoring of the Arak uranium enrichment site, the Associated Press reported.

 But an Obama administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the moves were not enough to ease suspicions that Tehran is seeking nuclear arms.

“As far as Iran allowing this improved surveillance and access, Iran is still not in compliance with its IAEA obligations and is not providing what has been called for, and that is full and comprehensive cooperation,” the official told Reuters.

The official said that if Tehran was going to restore confidence in its nuclear program, “it needs to provide that kind of cooperation.”

Tehran insists that its atomic work is geared toward civilian purposes.

The IAEA is due to circulate its latest report on Iran’s nuclear program next week.

Diplomats said that Western countries have pressed the nuclear agenc... >>>
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Dan Huck

Israel May Decide to Adhere to Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

by Dan Huck on Fri Aug 21, 2009 09:35 PM PDT

When President Obama spoke in Prague on April 5th, 2009 to the people of the Czech Republic on eliminating nuclear weapons, he spoke of a world that could change, that had changed in many ways, and he spoke of moral leadership more powerful than any weapon.

He committed his administration "to immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." He said "we will seek a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials intended for use in state nuclear weapons."

He said together (speaking especially of joint Russian - U.S. efforts) "we will strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a basis for cooperation."

Now we have a situation where there is a nation of the Mideast, Iran, which is a signatory to the NNPT which is working hard to establish a civilian nuclear power capability, and perhaps even currently may be toying with reactivating a clandestine weaponization program as well. However, they have said their current program is solely for peaceful purposes. They had been working on unreported projects for 18 years prior to "going public" and stopping in 2003.

Additionally, another nation in the Mideast, Israel, has totally withheld information regarding their nuclear program from the international community for more than 40 years. They are not signatories to the Non-proliferation Treaty. Forty-one years ago U.S. President Lyndon Johnson wrote in his Nov. 12 (1968) letter to Israeli PM Eshkol "We welcome the reaffirmation of your Government's assurances that Israel will not be the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the area. It is our strong conviction, however, that with a Non-Proliferation Treaty now in existence, only Israel 's adherence to that Treaty can give the world confidence that Israel does not intend to develop nuclear weapons."

At this point the "ambiguity" of this statement, re. "not introducing", is an insult to the other nations of the international community. Israel can only be considered to have not been the first to introduce nuclear weapons into the Mideast in the same way, from the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Emperor's New Clothes", that the emperor was not the first to introduce nudity as officially sanctioned attire of the realm. Only because of the apparent collusion of the U.S. in the farce has Israel not been laughed off the world stage. Now the U.S. is publicly calling for Israel to join the NNPT.

For 40 years Israel has had a free ride vis a vis the existing nuclear international system. Avner Cohen, author of "Israel and The Bomb" has suggested, in an Haaretz op-ed, Israel should attend the 2010 Nuclear Summit if invited. "This will give Israel a deserved place in the right sort of forum, without having to pay any price for membership", he said.

I believe it's an anti-semitic slur on the Jewish state to intimate 'they don't want to pay'; that they begrudge the other nations of the international community the willingness to step up to the plate, now, and start paying the price they have insisted Iran pay, i.e., much greater transparency, inspections, etc. Their record of truthfulness regarding their nuclear weapons program is certainly even less impressive than Iran's.

President Obama said in that speech "we need to go forward with no illusions. Some countries will break the rules. That's why we need a structure in place that ensures when any nation does, they will face consequences."


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