US not yet ready for denuclearization
Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani says the United States is far from ready for efforts directed at nuclear disarmament.
In a Saturday press conference, Larijani addressed the NPT Review Conference which wrapped up in New York on Friday, and criticized the US for refusing to commit to a definite timetable for complete nuclear disarmament at the summit.
“They (US) were not ready to have a timetable for disarmament and the treaty has been changed into a proposal,” the speaker said.
The 189 signatories to the NPT agreed on a declaration after a month of negotiations, postponing discussions on creating a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East to 2012.
Larijani stressed the “the necessity” of Israel becoming a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and said, “Here we have a regime (Israel) that does not accept the NPT, and is rebelling in the region.”
The NPT Review’s closing statement specifically called on Israel — believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East — to join the NPT.
Israel rejected the call and slammed the statement as ‘hypocritical.’
Larijani urged Western power to accept Tehran’s nuclear declaration in its entirety, dismissing sanctions as ineffective.
“We draw a red line when it comes to a selective approach to this declaration, and the other side (West) must know that the declaration’s clauses are interconnected.”
The Parliament speaker said the new round of US-pursued sanctions would fail to hinder Iran’s progress and urged Washington and its allies to find new ways to diplomatically engage Iran.
“On this issue (sanctions) the US and several other countries must consider how effective their actions have been so far, and whether the sanctions have affected our nuclear and regional policies,”
He advised the US against perusing former US President George W. Bush’s disastrous policies — particularly the Bush doctrine, under which the former US administration reserved the right to preemptively strike other countries.
“The logical solution is to find a new way,” Larijani concluded.
