Return to Archive

IRAN UPATE February 14, 2008 SENATOR LIEBERMAN ON IRAN Wehrkunde conference on security policy in Munich, February 9 “...Iran’s nuclear program is not only a threat in itself. It is also the front line of our global battle to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. If we do not work together to get Iran right, a great deal else in the world is likely to go very wrong.... Although the [National Intelligence Estimate] reported that Iran’s covert work on bomb design may have been temporarily suspended in 2003, it also said – far more importantly – that Iran’s overt work on enrichment continues apace. Indeed, it is that now-overt enrichment program, which began as a covert program carried out by Iran in violation of both its NPT obligations and its safeguards agreement with the IAEA, that will allow Iran to obtain the fissile material that remains the greatest hurdle to developing nuclear weapons... “The release of the NIE prompted some to speculate that international efforts to prevent Iran’s nuclearization would collapse, but thankfully they have not... Even now as we work to ensure the adoption of a third round of Security Council sanctions, we must also look ahead to what other steps we can take together that will reduce this threat. I would suggest that we consider action in three areas. “First, we must ensure that the resolutions that the UN has imposed are actually upheld. Under the current sanctions regime, countries are responsible for monitoring and reporting on their own behavior. This is an inherently inadequate arrangement, since many governments lack the technical capacity to ensure compliance, while others – in all frankness – lack the political will to do so. The Security Council has in the past authorized the creation of independent committees to ensure that its resolutions are being properly monitored and implemented... There is an urgent need now to create a similar special committee to monitor the sanctions we have adopted, and will adopt, against Iran. “Second, all of our nations have a responsibility to abide by not only the letter, but the spirit, of the Security Council resolutions, and to do everything in our power to ensure that they succeed in their purpose – which is convincing Iran to suspend its enrichment activities. For this reason, the French and British governments have recently proposed that the European Union should expand its own set of targeted sanctions against Iran, above and beyond those which have been authorized by the Security Council. It would be very effective and significant for the EU to do this – and for other responsible stakeholders in the international system, including our allies in East Asia and the Middle East, to follow Europe’s lead... The power to prevent war with Iran lies disproportionately with those who have the greatest economic leverage over Iran. They have a responsibility to use it, and soon. “Third, even as we continue to strengthen the ad hoc sanctions regime specifically designed to pressure Iran, we must also develop country-neutral rules that would spell out, in advance, the punitive steps to be taken against any country that abuses its obligations under the NPT as the Iranians have done – a kind of universal criminal code for nuclear proliferators. If a government is caught abusing the privileges of the NPT or exploiting safeguards loopholes, it should be made to forfeit at least temporarily some of the rights enjoyed by other NPT signatories that have respected the terms of the treaty. At a minimum, any such country should be required to dismantle or surrender all nuclear materials and equipment that it acquired covertly. We might also consider a country-neutral rule that would require any such violator to submit to intrusive, wide-area inspections for at least a decade and prohibit it from enrichment, reprocessing, or nuclear  related exports during this time... “Finally, let’s recognize that the international community is also concerned about Iran’s nuclear activities and intentions because of the way the Iranian regime conducts itself, in both its repressive treatment of its own people and its rogue behavior on the world stage. It is time to consider ways to reform the rules of our global nonproliferation system so that they can both reinforce, and be reinforced by, other international norms that we have a vital collective interest in – such as the promotion of human rights and the protection of the rule of law, and the prevention of genocide and terrorism. Given the uniquely terrible destructive power of nuclear weapons, we should take uniquely powerful precautions to prevent their acquisition by any regime whose leaders have openly called for the destruction of another sovereign state, or that has a long-established and well-documented  track  record  of  arming  and supporting  terrorist groups, or of brutally suppressing the human rights of its citizens – all of which the current regime in Iran has done...”

www.committeeonthepresentdanger.org. P.O. Box 33249, Washington DC 20003-3249 Contact: Larry Haas, larry@larryhaasonline.com. 202 257-9592

 

 Return to Archive