Iran criticizes double-standard policy on nuclear issue
Iran-European Union, Politics, 5/19/2005

Iran's First Vice-president Mohammad Reza Aref has criticized the double-standard policy adopted by the West over the issue of weapons of mass destruction ( WMD).

During a meeting with President of External Relations Commission of the Belgium Chamber of Representative Karl Pinxten overnight, the Vice-President said the West ignored Israeli nuclear arsenal while putting pressure on Iran to prevent it from using technology for peaceful purposes. He added that all countries in the world, including Iran, had a legal right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, adding that military use of such technology is against religious values.

He said that Iran was a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), pointing out that it has always been ready to take confidence-building measures.

The Iranian senior official said that expanding relations with European countries was top on the agenda of his country's foreign policy.

For his part, Pinxten also urged boosting of Tehran-Brussels economic, trade and industrial cooperation. He said he was optimistic that Iran-EU negotiations would reach an acceptable result in favor of both sides.

Meantime, the United States and Europe are united in their approach to Iran, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw say after meeting in Washington. Straw said the EU-3 have made clear that, if the talks fail, "we reserve the right to consider reopening the matter before the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] Board or referring the matter to the [United Nations] Security Council if we judged that is right and the obligations on both sides of the Paris agreement and other previous agreements have not been met."

"The whole purpose of the negotiations with Iran is to try and avoid that circumstance in the context of ensuring that there are objective guarantees about Iran's nuclear intentions," Straw added.

IRNA reported that: Britain's new Defence Secretary John Reid has reiterated that the British government still sees "no circumstances in which military action would be justified" again Iran over its nuclear program. "Such action would form no part of Government policy," Reid said Wednesday after coming under pressure from opposition parties and backbench MP to clarify Labour's position at the start of its record third term in office following this month's general election.

IRNA added: In the absence of the Foreign Secretary, who was visiting the US, Reid repeated what Jack Straw previously told parliament when he made clear in talking about Iran last November that he can envisage "no circumstances in which military action would be justified." He was questioned by the Conservatives' new Shadow Foreign Secretary Liam Fox whether there were "parallels between Iraq and Iran?" "There is widespread public anxiety that the decision to undertake military action in Iraq was taken long before we in the House of Commons voted for it. So what is the Government's plan of action for Iran?" Fox asked. "If the Security Council comes next, what sanctions do we envisage and in what time scale? Transparency on the issue from the outset is vital if we are to maintain public confidence. Trust will be harder to come by second time around," he warned. Anti-war Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn further warned that the neo-con proposals (in the US) appear to be to continue with heavy threats against Iran and possibly to move against Syria in future." "I hope that there is no such plan to engage in further military adventures in the region.

Meantime, Iran has indicated that it is adamant at finding a secure and credible supply of enriched Uranium to meet its internal peaceful energy needs; this supply would not subject to international politics influenced by the US as a super power and a country that labeled Iran as a country that is part of the "Axis of Evil".

Previous Stories:
  Iran to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes; may walk out of NPT if harassment continues   (5/14/2005)
  Iran has right to peaceful nuclear energy , minister   (5/4/2005)
  Iran to resume uranium enrichment   (4/11/2005)

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