 Brazil has big responsibilities in NPT talks: expert Sao Paulo (AFP) April 19, 2010 - Brazil's growing clout and vocal defense of Iran's nuclear program give it an important role -- and responsibilities -- going into talks reviewing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) next month, a leading expert said Monday. In particular, Brasil should rethink the limits it puts on International Atomic Energy Agency inspections on its own nuclear power plants, Gareth Evans, the co-chair of the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, told AFP. It is important "for its own credibility that Brazil recognizes the need for a new enhanced level of inspections" at its facilities, Evans said in a telephone interview from Brasilia ahead of a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim. "I think Brazil does need to consider its position on that if President Lula is going to talk to Tehran" on the matter, he said, speaking of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's support to Iran. Evans, a former Australian foreign minister who has worked for former UN chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, was appointed in 2008 to co-lead the International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament set up by the Australian and Japanese governments. He was visiting Brazil to talk over non-proliferation matters with officials before the review conference of the NPT treaty. He declined to say what the substance of the Brasilia discussions with Amorim would be about, calling it "confidential." It was, though, "terribly important that Brazil plays an important and constructive role in next month's NPT meeting," he said. While Evans said momentum should be maintained for sanctions against Iran for not yielding to international pressure for inspections of its controversial nuclear program, he stressed that the door should also be kept open for negotiations with Tehran. "I don't think we should assume that Iran is hell-bent on developing nuclear weapons," he said, raising the possibility that Tehran was more interested in developing its nuclear technology right up to the "big red line" of potentially creating an atomic arsenal without actually doing so. "The stakes are high and it's important to keep a cool head and not be spooked" by Iran's intransigence, he said. |
US and Russian envoys made the appeal at a UN General Assembly debate on disarmament and world security at which UN chief Ban Ki-moon also issued a strong plea for shifting global resources from weaponry to development.
US Ambassador Susan Rice described the signing of the successor START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) deal in Prague earlier this month by Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev as "a major milestone."
Alongside her, Russian counterpart Vitaly Churkin urged all states "to join efforts with Russia and the United States in this field and to contribute actively to the disarmament process."
Rice said: "Our joint appearance here today is a sign of the much strengthened relationship between our two nations, a relationship built on candor, cooperation and mutual respect."
She noted that together, the United States and Russia possess more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons.
Rice also highlighted Washington's new nuclear policy under which it vowed not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear weapons state that is party to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and in compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.
And she stressed that Washington would work hard to ensure the success of next month's NPT review conference here.
"All nations must recognize that the non-proliferation regime is undermined if violators are allowed to act with impunity," she said in a clear reference to Iran and North Korea, which have failed to comply with provisions of the NPT and UN demands that they scale back their nuclear ambitions.
Rice pledged that the US delegation would be "a constructive, flexible, and consensus-building voice" during the NPT review conference, which is to be held May 3-28.
"But we cannot do it alone. We encourage all delegations to put aside dated arguments and build on today's momentum to make real progress on disarmament, non-proliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy."
Ban said the world was over-armed with global spending on weapons well over one trillion dollars a year and rising, while badly needed development was under-funded.
"These priorities should be reversed. By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the (poverty-reduction) Millennium Development Goals."
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