Sunday 29th of December 2024
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the voice of reason .....

the voice of reason .....

During a press conference on Tuesday, US President George Bush spelled out the threat to Iran contained in last week’s release of CIA intelligence on an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor.

As well as warning Syria and North Korea, which purportedly helped construct the building, he declared that the US was “sending a message to Iran, and the world for that matter, about just how destabilising a nuclear proliferation would be in the Middle East”. 

While Bush did not explain what the “message” was, the context makes it abundantly clear. Last September, Israeli warplanes demolished the building in an unprovoked act of aggression that had the potential to trigger a wider war. The US administration, which undoubtedly gave the green light for the attack, presented uncorroborated intelligence last week that the building housed an uncompleted reactor and that Syria was trying to build a nuclear weapon. The unstated threat to Tehran was: the US and Israel are prepared to destroy Iranian nuclear facilities as well. 

None of the Israeli and US intelligence made public last week implicated Tehran in Syria’s alleged plans for a nuclear reactor. So why single Iran out for special mention? As far as nuclear proliferation is concerned, Israel is the only country in the region with a stockpile of nuclear weapons, and US regional allies - Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey - have all announced plans for nuclear reactors. By naming Iran, Bush not only underscored the hypocritical character of his stance, but confirmed Tehran is at the top of the list of US targets. 

A Barrage Of US Threats Against Iran

nuclear apartheid .....

An Iranian envoy said Monday his government will not submit to extensive nuclear inspections while Israel stays outside the global treaty to curb the spread of atomic weapons. 

"The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told a meeting of the 190 countries that have signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. 

Nuclear safeguards are far from universal, he said, adding that more than 30 countries are still without a comprehensive safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ensure full cooperation with that U.N. body. 

"Israel, with huge nuclear weapons activities, has not concluded" such an agreement or submitted its facilities to the IAEA's safeguards, Soltanieh said. 

Israel, which does not discuss whether it has atomic weapons, did not sign the non-proliferation treaty, which requires all signatories except the major powers to refrain from obtaining nuclear arms. India and Pakistan, which have developed nuclear weapons, also are not signatories. 

Iran Rejects Nuclear Inspections Unless Israel Allows Them 

meanwhile, back at phoney diplomacy central …..    

The British ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, John Duncan, came in for some sharp criticism from Russia and China for distorting reports about the decisions of G5 plus Germany on Iran's nuclear program. 

Chinese and Russian permanent representative at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament in Geneva said Monday that the statements by the British envoy do not reflect the views of China and Russia. 

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the foreign ministers of the U.S., Britain, Russia, China, France, and Germany agreed on Friday to offer Iran a new package of incentives for Tehran to halt uranium enrichment process. 

Russia, China Criticise Britain On Iran