By Steve Hynd
Reuters reports that the U.S. has backed down and accepted a key clause in the draft statement from the current NPT conference that demands a nuclear-free Middle East.
The latest draft of a final declaration for the NPT review conference calls for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to organize a meeting of all Middle Eastern states in 2012 on how to make the region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction, as demanded by a 1995 NPT resolution.
It also urges Israel to sign the NPT and put its nuclear facilities under U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards -- a passage the Americans had wanted deleted. In the end, they backed down in the interest of salvaging the conference, delegates told Reuters.
The creation of a WMD-free zone would eventually force Israel to abandon any atomic bombs it might have. The Jewish state, which like nuclear-armed India and Pakistan never signed the NPT, is presumed to have a sizable nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies that.
Israel is not participating in the NPT meeting.
The neo-whatevers - both -con and -lib varieties - who have been so gung-ho with Israel's hardliners in pushing for a new Mid East war to ensure Israel's nuclear weapons monopoly in the region, will not be happy.
One Western diplomat is quoted as saying "Now the question is will Iran do the right thing," suggesting that Iran might yet put a spanner in the works so as to pursue its own nuclear weapons program. But Iran has repeatedly said it too wishes a nuclear free region, most recently at a conference it hosted back in April. If it does nix the wording, that would be more significant than much of the rumormongering that the neo-whatevers have orchestrated over the years. But I don't see it doing so.
Update: As I expected, Iran has backed the draft accord.
In the final declaration, the NPT states call for convening a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction."
This Arab idea of a WMD-free zone, meant to pressure Israel to give up its undeclared nuclear arsenal, was endorsed by the 1995 NPT conference but never acted on.
Israel has long said a full Arab-Israeli peace must precede such weapons bans. But at this conference the U.S., Israel's chief supporter, said it welcomed "practical measures" leading toward the goal of a nuke-free zone, and U.S. diplomats discussed possibilities with Israel.
A sticking point had been a passage naming Israel, reaffirming "the importance of Israel's accession to the NPT," a move that would require it to destroy its estimated 80 or so nuclear warheads.
Iran demanded that this NPT session insist Israel join the treaty before a 2012 conference. Egypt's U.N. Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz told reporters the Arab position was softer that Israel's accession to the treaty would come as ``part of the process'' begun in 2012.
Although the Israelis acquiesced to U.S. urging that they take part in such a 2012 discussion, they objected to participating under terms in which they were the only nation mentioned in this way, diplomats said. In the end, however, the ``Israel mention remained in the text.
Establishment of a verifiable Mideast nuclear weapons-free zone should help allay international concerns about whether Iran's ambitious nuclear program is aimed at building bombs, something Tehran denies. The Iranians have long expressed support for a nuke-free Mideast.
Whatever the result Friday, all-important details of a 2012 Mideast conference would remain to be worked out, such as whether the talks are meant as the start of formal negotiations on a treaty.
And, to celebrate, the US House approved sanctions on Iran...not Israel. Funny old world, eh?
No comments:
Post a Comment