nuclear-news

As if we needed any more proof that the “Iranian nuclear threat” is just a cooked-up pretextwhich is unrelated to any actual nuclear threat, Australia (which holds about 1/3rd of the world’s uranium reserves) has decided to sell uranium to India. That such a deal violates the terms of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, doesn’t seem to be an issue to anyone. Note the absence of handwringing editorials at the Washington Post and NY Times about the sanctity of international arms treaties etc.

And why should it be a problem, considering that a few years ago the US agreed to violate the same NPT by sharing nuclear technology with India in exchange for buying India’s vote against Iran at the IAEA Board (which sent Iran’s file to the UN Security Council even though Iran had not breached the NPT?)

On the eve of his visit to New Delhi, US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns has said that with India voting in favour of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] resolution on Iran’s nuclear programme, Congressional opposition to the Indo-US nuclear agreement has disappeared and both sides would meet their commitments before President George W. Bush visits India next year.

Of course the US and Australia claim that this stuff is going to non-military use in India but all that means is that the deal would free-up India’s other resources to be used for non-civilian use. There’s nothing in the NPT which allows signatories to make such exceptions anyway.

Now in the meantime, while the US (and Australia) are blatantly violating their own obligations under the NPT, they’re demanding that Iran apply even greater restrictions on its nuclear program than the NPT requires, by for example giving up uranium enrichment. These excessive demands that violate Iran’s legal rights are clearly intended to scuttle the talks, and to keep the “crisis” alive. The US has no intention of peacefully resolving the nuclear dispute with Iran, no matter what.