SA’s Minty warns against isolating Iran :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: SA’s Minty warns against isolating Iran

Posted by admin on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 08:00 AM

CAPE TOWN — SA’s representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Abdul Minty, yesterday warned of the dire consequences for the world if Iran was driven out of the Non Proliferation Treaty to become a maverick nuclear state.
Wyndham Hartley

Minty’s briefing to Parlia-ment’s foreign affairs committee came amid talk of possible air strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and, worse still, a possible invasion of a second Middle East nation by the US and its allies. At the centre of the conflict is that the US and some European countries are seeking to halt Iranian moves to create an enrichment capacity. In the extensive diplomatic attempts by members of the IAEA board of governors, SA has tried to achieve consensus among the 35 members of the IAEA. Its negotiations have been aimed at retaining the integrity of IAEA and avoiding having a second nation after North Korea developing nuclear technology outside the Non Proliferation Treaty. SA has twice abstained from voting on resolutions that seek to have Iran’s nuclear programme referred to the United Nations Security Council — in September and last month, saying that more time was needed for dialogue. Minty said the situation in the Middle East was not conducive to peace. He referred to the invasion of Iraq by the US and its allies, the row over cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad and warned that “any action against Iran will hold enormous dangers”. He told the parliamentary committee that any action against Iran, the second-largest producer of oil in the world, could affect world oil supplies, which in turn would affect prices and the world economy. Iran insists on its right to develop a peaceful nuclear power programme, while the US and its allies want to halt its development of the capacity to enrich uranium. Minty said media reports that the IAEA had decided to refer Iran to the security council were incorrect. He said, however, that if diplomatic action failed to keep the matter away from the security council it would likely lead to Iran leaving the Non Proliferation Treaty, thus removing any mechanisms to inspect its nuclear development.

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