World>Terrorism & Security
posted May 2, 2005, updated 12:00 p.m.

Talks on Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty 'deadlocked'

US wants to talk about Iran and North Korea, but world wants to talk about US and other nuclear powers.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

If the US has its way, this week's Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty meeting at the UN will be all about Iran and North Korea. But The Associated Press reports that the rest of the world wants to focus on the US and the other big five nuclear powers (China, Britain, France and Russia), and their "slow pace" towards total nuclear disarmament.

As a result, The New York Times reported Saturday, the meeting appears to be deadlocked and the goal of closing "loopholes" in the treaty that have been exploited by Iran, North Korea, and even the US in some cases, likely won't be met.


04/29/05 Putin seeks role as 'honest broker' 04/28/05 Global terror attacks tripled in 2004 04/27/05 US faces left-leaning Latin America

Sign up to be notified daily: Find out more.

The Globe and Mail reports that the conference opens with signs of defiance from North Korea, which test-fired "a short-range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead" over the weekend, and from Iran who said it will probably restart its uranium enrichment program. But nonnuclear countries and other activists say US President George Bush needs to "lead by example and demonstrate a commitment to the treaty's goal of disarmament as well as nonproliferation."

On Monday, the International Herald Tribune carried a commentary signed by foreign ministers from Egypt, Ireland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and Sweden, that called on the nuclear powers to "fulfill their obligations to eliminate their nuclear arsenals."

For our part, we remain concerned about their unsatisfactory progress. At the review conference five years ago, the nuclear-weapon states made an 'uniquivocal undertaking to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals.' This goal is all the more important in a world in which terrorists seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Indeed, the nuclear-weapon states should acknowledge that disarmament and nonproliferation are mutually reinforcing processes: What does not exist cannot proliferate.

Deutche Welle reports that President Bush in particular may come under heavy criticism at the conference for his past actions.

Bush's track record of tinkering with international anti-nuclear rules has prompted critics to say Washington is top among those undermining the authority of the NPT. Bush has refused to support a test-ban treaty, threw out the anti-ballistic missile treaty with Russia, and is still dragging his feet on negotiating a global treaty to end the production of fissile material for bombs.
To many, Washington's perceived double standards set a bad example when it comes to negotiations with countries such as North Korea and Iran.

In an editorial, the Financial Times of London writes that the NPT is one of the "most successful treaties ever," but is under strain, especially on Iran. But the Times believes that if a deal can be reached with Iran, it must be followed up with decisive action by the nuclear powers.

A deal on Iran would greatly bolster the NPT. But a general reduction in the temptation to proliferate can only come if the NPT's five avowed nuclear weapons powers carry out their long-standing promise to disarm. For they cannot expect others to devalue nuclear weapons if they evidently do not themselves.

The BBC also points to the success of the NPT – only three countries in the world are not signatures to the treaty: India, Pakistan and Israel – and most countries in the world live up to their end of the treaty. But the 'loopholes' mentioned above mean that countries like Iran and North Korea can " step up to the edge of the treaty constraints and then jump outside it."

While much of the conference will be focused on this issue of "stepping up to the edge," the actions of the five nuclear powers – who, the BBC reports, seem not to be just ignoring the disarmament function of the treaty, but actively moving in the other direction - will also "hang over" the conference.

The US is investigating new types of nuclear weapons to attack deeply-buried targets; China is busy modernizing its nuclear arsenal to make it more mobile; and Russia and China have both altered their nuclear doctrines in ways which might make the use of nuclear arms more likely.

Meanwhile, several other issues will likely also generate headlines during the month-long meeting in New York.

Pakistan said Sunday that it will only sign the NPT if it is acknowledged as a nuclear state. And Arab nations may push for the Middle East to be declared a nuclear-free zone. It is widely accepted that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, although it has never acknowledged that it does.

And while the US and Iran may be poised to confront each other during the meeting, Reuters reports that they found themselves on the same side in one issue. IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has called for a global moratorium on the enrichment of uranium and reprocessing of plutonium, the two ways of making fuel for atomic weapons. But both Iran and the US, joined by Canada, Australia, Japan, France, Brazil, the Netherlands and others, have opposed the plan.