Iran wants US nukes dismantled

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the United States should dismantle its nuclear bases around the world as a step to create a nuke-free world.

“Nuclear weapons stationed in military bases in the US and those in its allied countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands must be dismantled,” President Ahmadinejad said in an address before the 2010 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.

“Those who used nuclear weapons for the first time in history are the most detested and disgraceful people in the world,” he said, adding that nuclear arms are “the most disgusting and shameful kind of weapons in the world.”

The United Sates, despite being a signatory to the NPT, is the “main suspect” responsible for the stockpiling, spread and the threatening of other nations with nuclear weapons, the Iranian president said.

Ahmadinejad noted that “possessing nuclear weapons is nothing to be proud of,” while criticizing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for adopting a double standard toward nuclear-armed countries and those seeking nuclear energy.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the review conference, held every five years to strengthen the non-proliferation regime, at the UN headquarters.

Ahmadinejad, who is the only head of state attending the summit, said world powers should set a deadline to create a nuke-free world, calling on the UN to rebrand the NPT as the “Disarmament NPT.”

The Iranian president, who described as “hazardous” the production and stockpiling of nuclear weapons by world powers, criticized the United Nations for its inability to establish sustainable security for the world against nuclear weapons.

He stressed that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation have not materialized, saying that the US should be blamed for the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

World powers, he said, should live up to their obligations under the NPT.

Ahmadinejad also provided a comprehensive resolution to strengthen the non-proliferation treaty:

– Nuclear disarmament should be put at the core of the NPT mandate through “transparent binding and effective mechanisms.”

– The establishment of an independent, international group to fully materialize Article 6 of the NPT; including planning and supervising nuclear disarmament and preventing proliferation.

“All these nuclear weapons should be eliminated within a timetable set by this group.”

– The introduction of legally binding, comprehensive security guarantees, without discrimination or preconditions until the achievement of full nuclear disarmament by nuclear-armed states.

– The immediate termination of all types of research, development or improvement of nuclear weapons and their related facilities.

– The adoption of a legally binding instrument on the full prohibition of production, stockpiling and improvement proliferation, maintaining and use of nuclear weapons.

– The suspension of membership in the IAEA board of governors for states that use or threaten to use nuclear weapons.

“The presence of such members has allowed the agency to deviate from conducting its authorized missions.”

– The secession of all kinds of nuclear cooperation with non-signatories of the NPT and the adoption of effective punitive measures against all those states which continue to cooperate with such non-member states.

– Considering any threat to use nuclear weapons or any attack on peaceful nuclear facilities as a breach of international law.

– Immediate and unconditional implementation of the resolution adopted by the 1995 Review Conference on the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.

– Collective effort to reform the structure of the (UN) Security Council as its current structure mainly serves the interests of nuclear weapons states.