Iran's acceptance of a compromise on the agenda text of a global
nuclear conference in Vienna reflects its cooperative attitude
towards the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) but may not
be enough to solve the country's nuclear issue, Chinese experts
said Wednesday.
Teheran has expressed its willingness to cooperate with the
world nuclear watchdog but that does not mean it would give up its
uranium enrichment program, former Chinese ambassador to Iran Hua
Liming said.
The 130-nation global conference to strengthen the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had been stalled after it began on
April 30 because of Iran's objection to a phrase in the agenda:
"need for full compliance with" the NPT.
Reports said Iran felt that the wording could make it a target
for defying UN Security Council demands and force it to suspend its
uranium enrichment program, which can be used to generate power as
well as to create fissile warhead material.
"Iran's compromise is aimed at protecting its rights of peaceful
use of nuclear energy and avoiding the sanctions from the UN,"
Shanghai-based Fudan University's senior professor Shen Dingli
said.
On Tuesday, Iran accepted the compromise, which allowed the
delegations to move on to their main agenda laying the groundwork
for a 2010 conference to review and possibly revise the pact to
make it more effective in curbing the spread of nuclear arms.
The South African proposal accepted on Tuesday would footnote
the phrase "need for full compliance with" to ensure that all
aspects of the NPT is fully observed an allusion to the need for
the US and other nuclear weapons countries to disarm.
According to Iran Daily, Iranian Foreign Ministry
spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said his country does not want to
withdraw from the NPT and supports negotiations within the IAEA and
NPT framework of regulations.
Senior officials of the UN Security Council's permanent members,
including China and the US, will meet today in Berlin to discuss
ways to deal with Iran's nuclear issue. Germany too will be
represented at the meeting.
Hua said the success of the meeting will depend largely on the
attitude of the US, which always takes a hard line against Iran.
The European Union is ready to accept a "civil nuclear" Iran under
IAEA's close supervision, though.
Hua said a lot of European countries, especially Germany that is
Iran's largest trading partner, would not be happy to see economic
sanctions against Teheran and are working actively to solve the
issue in a proper way.
Reports said that Iran's compromise decision appeared driven by
the frustration over the deadlock expressed by nations that often
support Iran in its nuclear dispute.
The NPT requires signatory nations not to pursue nuclear
weapons, but India and Pakistan, known as nuclear weapons states,
remain outside the treaty.
(China Daily May 10, 2007)
