MEDIA REACTION: NUCLEAR ROW

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000837



STATE FOR SCA/INSB, PM/CBM, PM/PRO



STATE FOR SCA/PPD, PA/RRU



SIPDIS



E.O. 12958 N/A

TAGS: KMDR, KPAO, PGOV, OPRC, NP

SUBJ: MEDIA REACTION: NUCLEAR ROW



1. The independent popular English daily

"Republica," in its Wednesday, September 9, 2009

editorial, discussed what it termed the "nuclear

row" brewing between Iran and Western nations and

criticized "double-standards" applied in looking at

nations with nuclear capability. It also urged

nuclear-capable nations "to first express an

unambiguous commitment to gradually cut their

nuclear arsenals and expound a vision of a nuclear

weapons-free world. Unless they do so, the race will

continue and more countries will join the nuclear

club."



2. Full text: "The nuclear row between Iran and the

West is worsening, threatening stability in the

Middle East. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

on Monday said Iran will neither halt its uranium

enrichment nor negotiate over its nuclear rights but

is ready to sit and talk with the world powers.

Ahmadinejad's statement is in response to a warning

issued by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The IAEA has warned

Iran against "stalemate" over its nuclear program.

Providing a new twist to the issue, France on

Tuesday accused the IAEA of concealing the truth

about Iran's nuclear program."



3. "Nuclear proliferation is a threat to world

peace and prosperity and it should be halted

immediately, but such restrictions cannot be

selective, nor can there be two different rules for

two different countries. It is here that the West is

making a mistake, and thus losing its moral

authority to check nuclear proliferation. The United

States, which has been putting sustained pressure on

Iran to stop its nuclear enrichment program, should

be the last country to be doing so. The US Senate

rejected the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

when the Clinton Administration presented it for

ratification. US clout against proliferation eroded

further after it attacked Iraq on grounds of the

latter possessing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

but failed to come up with any evidence after over-

running that country."



4. "The US and the nuclear West argue that their

nuclear weapons guarantee world peace, while any

such weapons possessed by "rogue" states would

threaten that peace. True, developed countries and

mature democracies are less likely to resort to WMD

compared to unstable countries like Pakistan or

Iran, but to say that developed countries never use

them runs against historical fact: Didn't the US

drop A-bombs on Japan during World War II?"



5. "The West also maintains double standards while

dealing with a particular country before and after

it attains nuclear status. Take India, for instance.

The West was leaning heavily on India to sign the

CTBT before it carried out nuclear tests in 1998. Of

course, there were sanctions against India in the

immediate aftermath of Pokhran II, but those

sanctions gradually waned and today India hobnobs

with the West as a privileged member of the nuclear

club. India's current stature on the world stage is

partly a result of Pokhran. Given such a record,

it's no wonder that more nations aspire and do

everything it takes to join that club. The members

of the nuclear club should first express an

unambiguous commitment to gradually cut their

nuclear arsenals and expound a vision of a nuclear

weapons-free world. Unless they do so, the race will

continue and more countries will join the nuclear

club"



MOON