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