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Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty reform and diplomacy keys to solving Iran crisis
21 September 2005
“Threatening to refer Iran to the Security Council is only heightening tensions
and fails to address the real problem,” said William Peden, Greenpeace
International’s Nuclear Analyst in Vienna. “Calmer heads need to prevail - in
the past few days we’ve seen that in the case of North Korea, sustained
diplomacy - and not bravado - can work.”
According to Greenpeace, there needs to be more genuine diplomacy applied in the case of Iran.
“No one wants another Iraq. Now, more than ever, ALL nations need to commit to their NPT obligations on non-proliferation and disarmament. That both these commitments were pulled from last weeks’ final Millennium Summit document was both hypocritical and inexcusable,” said Peden.
Greenpeace contends that the NPT must be amended to remove the right of countries to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This clause, says Greenpeace, is hopelessly outdated. Nuclear power is enormously environmentally destructive. The international community lives in fear that terrorists will obtain nuclear weapons. With some 40 countries now having the capability to make nuclear weapons, situations like Iran will inevitably be repeated unless there is a proper approach to the root cause.
While Greenpeace welcomed the initial breakthrough in the North Korean talks, it believes the crisis will only be truly over when a nuclear free zone on the Korean Peninsula is created. Similarly, the decades-old drive to establish a nuclear-weapons free zone in the Middle East needs to be reinvigorated.
“The NPT was drawn up some 35 years ago committing nuclear weapon states to disarm. That hasn’t happened and now the reverse may come true: a vicious circle of more states seeking the capability to attain nuclear weapons themselves in response,” concluded Peden.
According to Greenpeace, there needs to be more genuine diplomacy applied in the case of Iran.
“No one wants another Iraq. Now, more than ever, ALL nations need to commit to their NPT obligations on non-proliferation and disarmament. That both these commitments were pulled from last weeks’ final Millennium Summit document was both hypocritical and inexcusable,” said Peden.
Greenpeace contends that the NPT must be amended to remove the right of countries to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. This clause, says Greenpeace, is hopelessly outdated. Nuclear power is enormously environmentally destructive. The international community lives in fear that terrorists will obtain nuclear weapons. With some 40 countries now having the capability to make nuclear weapons, situations like Iran will inevitably be repeated unless there is a proper approach to the root cause.
While Greenpeace welcomed the initial breakthrough in the North Korean talks, it believes the crisis will only be truly over when a nuclear free zone on the Korean Peninsula is created. Similarly, the decades-old drive to establish a nuclear-weapons free zone in the Middle East needs to be reinvigorated.
“The NPT was drawn up some 35 years ago committing nuclear weapon states to disarm. That hasn’t happened and now the reverse may come true: a vicious circle of more states seeking the capability to attain nuclear weapons themselves in response,” concluded Peden.
Contact information
- Michael Kessler
-
Michael Kessler, Greenpeace International Communications +34 660 637 053
William Peden, Greenpeace International Nuclear Analyst +31 653 504 731