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August 30, 2003
Europeans Warn Iran To Accept Nuclear Inspections

Here is the story:

A senior European Union official has warned Iran it must accept unannounced snap inspections of its nuclear facilities.

Speaking during a news conference in Tehran, E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the issue is not a bargaining matter. He warned that failure to agree to such inspections would mean "bad news" for Iran.

Iran is under mounting international pressure to sign an additional protocol to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that would allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to inspect nuclear facilities with little advance warning.

Mr. Solana issued the warning after the head of the IAEA, Mohammed ElBaradei, said Iran has been buying nuclear technology on the international black market. In an interview aired Friday by British television, Mr. ElBaradei also said Iran's nuclear program was much older than the IAEA realized, going back to the mid-1980's.

The United States says Iran has been secretly developing nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is intended only for peaceful purposes.

(Also posted on my blog.)

Posted by Pejman at August 30, 2003 09:32 AM | TrackBack
Comments

Europeans Warn Iran To Accept Nuclear Inspections

Or else.... what? Bad news? Right, like that's a real disincentive!

Posted by: CERDIP at August 30, 2003 11:23 AM

Or they will taunt them a second time!

Posted by: MG at August 30, 2003 01:36 PM

Europe may go through wityh this one. If they deal with Iran the EU will survive as a legitimate force. If they go through the UN in a suficiently expedited manner it will also survive. If they do nothing, they're dead in the water.

Here's to European self interest, may it finally do some good.

Posted by: CCR at August 30, 2003 09:24 PM

When the subject arises on Foreign Policy on national T.V. (assuming Dean wins Primaries) in the Presidential Debates, Howard Dean will voice his opinions to the American Public that will jive completely with the EU and especially the President of the EU. That is my prediction anyway.

So when the EU does (a whole lot of nothing), expect it to at least shape Dean's speeches on Iran.

Posted by: Jeff MacMillan at August 30, 2003 10:54 PM

Caroline Glick wrote a great article very recently in the Jerusalem Post and said "Unfortunately, this approach has no chance of succeeding in preventing the Iranians from achieving nuclear capabilities. It was known that the Iranians were enriching uranium at the Natanz plant six months ago. If it took six months for the IAEA to discover traces of enriched uranium and the Iranians are but one year away from having enriched a sufficient amount of uranium to make atomic bombs, the chance that IAEA inspections could avert Iranian enrichment of sufficient quantities of weapons-grade uranium is low. "

Too True I'm afraid.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1062042212703

Posted by: Adam at August 31, 2003 11:15 AM

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