In a show of unprecedented awareness for a U.N. agency, the International Atomic Energy Agency has pulled 22 of 55 nuclear technological development projects from the relentlessly rabid Iran.
But the fact the arm of an agency created to prevent another Holocaust is assisting Iran, a government that hosts international gatherings of Holocaust deniers, in developing any form of nuclear technology is at best a perversion of priorities and at worst an accomplice to possible future nuclear-scale murder.
To compound the insult, the IAEA, true to the warped modus operandi of the parent body, has only halfheartedly pulled the plug on the stalled Iranian projects. This includes a reactor in Tehran for “”peaceful purposes”” – if peaceful means wiping Israel off the map and selling enriched nuclear material to the highest bidder.
The Iranians will be allowed to reapply for the same technical assistance they have been denied this time around in two years, and the remaining 33
It is obvious by the ruling class’s behavior that they are not interested in nuclear capabilities on a strictly peaceful basis. They jealously desire a place in the nuclear club.
projects are still active, despite the IAEA’s admission that some nuclear technical information designed for peaceful pursuits can be exploited for war.
What would make Iran, or the projects for which they request technical assistance, more in line with the Atoms for Peace philosophy of the IAEA in two short years?
IAEA’s director general, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, expressed a desire to report “”positively”” on the situation in a Jan. 29 interview with CNN.
He fears that if he reports “”negatively”” there will be continuing escalation, and that would put the world on the wrong track.
Yet ElBaradei avoids mentioning the wrong track the world would be on if those who rule Iran got their hands on nuclear material – weapons grade or just dirty bomb stuff. Sounds like ElBaradei will report positively on the Iranian crisis, regardless of the facts.
It is obvious by the behavior of Iran’s rulers that they are not interested in nuclear capabilities on a strictly peaceful basis. They jealously desire a place in the nuclear club.
Iran has been actively thwarting the process that was developed to keep it from destroying any of the countries that have angered it in one way or another. Drawing Iran’s ire seems easy to do, as the list continues to grow every time the esteemed Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, gets a microphone and an audience.
The fact that Iran’s most powerful ruler, Ayatollah Khamenei, has only just begun to muzzle Ahmadinejad indicates to the world that hurling insults and threatening to eradicate other countries is de facto supported by the rest of the country’s rulers, until it threatens Iran’s access to nuclear technology.
If Iran’s ambitions were truly peaceful, a dogma those at the IAEA are religiously holding to, why would the Iranians limit the number of IAEA inspectors to 100, kick out inspectors for no given reason and finally put a ban on inspectors from any country that voted to impose nuclear sanctions?
The ban on inspectors from countries in favor of nuclear sanctions against Iran is particularly egregious, as those people would be the most likely to not ascribe to the dogma that Iran’s nuclear program is strictly for peaceful purposes. These inspectors might actually question the Iranians and bring a minute degree of transparency to this bloodthirsty regime.
ElBaradei has dreams that Iran will take a time-out on developing nuclear material, despite the fact that Ahmadinejad has repeatedly vowed not to halt the nuclear program because of UN-imposed nuclear sanctions, and he also asks that the UN put any further sanctions on hold.
But the world is getting to the point where taking “”time-outs”” will no longer be feasible. As it is, Iran grows more emboldened, and undoubtedly continues its dogged pursuits of nuclear technology, whether the rest of the world is trying to stop it or not.
“”Even if they enact 10 other sanctions it will have no effect,”” Ahmadenijad recently said while unveiling his budget plans to the Iranian parliament, according to the Gulf Daily News.
If the IAEA continues to ignore the seriousness of the situation, perhaps the best thing the civilized world – including those living under the barbaric regime – can hope for is that mounting internal unrest will have the wherewithal to do what 10 more halfhearted IAEA sanctions will not.
Kara Karlson is a journalism senior. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu
