The world must confront Iran’s attempt to derail the non-proliferation review

Times Online, May 4, 2010 – For President Ahamdinejad, the review conference of the Non-Proliferation Treaty that opened in New York yesterday is a golden opportunity to divert the world’s attention from Iran’s many treaty violations, hijack the conference with ringing attacks on the United States and its allies and frustrate the world’s attempt to control the spread of nuclear weapons with his customary bombast, mendacity and political guile.
The Iranian President – the only head of state attending this five-yearly review – is clearly determined to make the most of a rare entry visa to thwart UN Security Council attempts to impose a fourth round of sanctions on Iran, fan resentment of the declared nuclear powers and bog down the NPT conference in argument over Israel’s nuclear monopoly in the Middle East.
This time, however, his diversionary tactics may not work. The scale of Iran’s deceptions, its increasingly flagrant breaches of the 1970 treaty and its patent determination to build a bomb are clear to all 189 signatories. Hillary Clinton warned Iran yesterday not to confuse the issue. A frustrated Russia has voiced cautious support for sanctions, China has dropped its earlier defence of Tehran and even Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, has gone beyond his customary blandness in telling Mr Ahamdinejad that the onus was on him to prove that Iran’s nuclear programme was for peaceful purposes.
What will most frustrate Mr Ahamdinejad’s mischief-making, however, is President Obama’s skill in rekindling the momentum of nuclear disarmament. His signature last month of a treaty with Russia to cut nuclear arms by a third has underlined US commitment to completing the unfinished business of the Cold War; Mr Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons is beginning to appear achievable. And the Washington conference of 47 world leaders last month also rekindled enthusiasm for the aims of the NPT, however ragged it has seemed in recent years.
With enthusiasm in Washington replacing the scepticism of the Bush Administration, the signatories now have a fair chance of shoring up the single most important treaty in halting the spread of nuclear weapons. There is much to do during the three weeks of this eighth review. The focus will be on the NPT’s three main pillars of nonproliferation, disarmament and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The defiance of Iran and North Korea has confronted the world with the first challenge; it may be a happy coincidence that China today has a rare opportunity to tell Kim Jong Il to his face that he risks continued Chinese support and the very survival of the North Korean regime by his deviousness over the Bomb.
The other two pillars, however, also need reinforcement. In the last successful review in 2000, 13 key paragraphs containing principles, objectives and practical steps on nuclear disarmament were negotiated; these need now to be updated and reaffirmed. With the pressures of increased energy use and the need to cut carbon emissions, the option of nuclear energy is becoming ever more important and attractive. But a better regime must be found to make it harder for countries starting up a nuclear industry to divert nuclear fuel to malign military purposes. Iran blocks progress on all three. It must therefore be confronted by a world united in calling Mr Ahamdinejad’s bluff, punishing his deceptions and telling him that he is unwelcome in New York.