Iran’s IAEA ambassador said plans to renew Britain’s nuclear arsenal were a “serious setback” to international disarmament efforts. Blair’s deputy leader in Parliament resigned at the decision, and says he will go to Iran to take his anti-nuclear mission further. The Ambassador said “Britain does not have the right to question others when they’re not complying with their obligations [under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty].”
He added: “It is very unfortunate that the UK, which is always calling for non-proliferation … not only has not given up the weapons but has taken a serious step towards further development of nuclear weapons.”
full Scotsman March 16 2007 article below
Britain’s push to renew Trident comes under attack … from Iran
GERRI PEEV POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (gpeev@scotsman.com)
IRAN has criticised Britain’s decision to renew Trident, saying it could be used by other countries resisting pressure to disarm.
Under fire from Western powers over its own atomic programme, Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency said plans to renew Britain’s nuclear arsenal were a “serious setback” to international disarmament efforts.
The remarks from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s regime have prompted Nigel Griffiths, the Edinburgh South MP who resigned over Trident, to prepare to go to Iran for talks.
Mr Griffiths, who quit as deputy Commons leader to vote with 32 other Scottish Labour MPs against renewal of the nuclear arsenal, said that after hearing Iran’s response, he was determined to take his anti-nuclear mission further.
“I hope to travel to Iran to persuade them that developing nuclear weapons is neither in the interests of their people nor of their perfectly legitimate defence systems,” he said.
In his resignation speech on Wednesday, Mr Griffiths warned of the consequences internationally of renewing Trident: “The world is watching us. Let us be leaders for peace.”
Yesterday, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, said: “Britain does not have the right to question others when they’re not complying with their obligations [under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty].”
He added: “It is very unfortunate that the UK, which is always calling for non-proliferation … not only has not given up the weapons but has taken a serious step towards further development of nuclear weapons.”
Labour rebel MPs argued that the decision to renew Trident would send the wrong message to states such as Iran and North Korea, which have attracted strong international pressure over their nuclear programmes.
While Tehran insists that its nuclear power is for domestic energy needs, it faces new UN sanctions after refusing to halt work that inspectors believe could be weapons-related.
Tony Blair argued that Britain needed new nuclear weapons because of potential threats from countries such as North Korea and Iran or terrorists armed with nuclear weapons.
The Prime Minister – who only won the vote on renewing Trident with the help of Conservative MPs – said if Britain were to give up its nuclear weapons, it would not improve prospects of other countries disarming.
But Mr Soltanieh said Mr Blair was misleading the public by using Iran’s nuclear ambitions to justify the Trident decision.
“UK security is threatened … by interfering in international affairs, occupation and invasion [in the Middle East],” he said.
The criticism will be seized on by anti-nuclear campaigners and rebel MPs, who warned that the Trident decision would give Britain no moral authority to ask other states to disarm.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said the decision to renew Trident was fully in line with the Non-Proliferation Treaty “which recognises the UK as a nuclear-weapon state”.
“Iran, as a non-nuclear state has signed the NPT and then has breached its own obligations.”