CASMII Press Release
The National Intelligence
Estimate (NIE) on Iran, issued on December 3, refutes the US and Israeli
accusations that Iran has a covert nuclear weapons programme. The statement
vindicates Iran's claim that the decision by the Governors Board of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to report its nuclear file to the UN
Security Council in February 2006 and the subsequent Security Council
resolutions and sanctions against Iran lack legitimacy.
The NIE report had been held
for nearly one year in an effort by Vice President Cheney's office to force the
intelligence community to remove some of the dissenting judgments on Iran's
nuclear program.
Representing the views of 16
US intelligence agencies, the NIE on Iran sharply reverses its 2005 version that
claimed Iran was developing nuclear weapons. The report assesses that
Iran's alleged military nuclear work ended in 2003, but fails to provide any
evidence that such activity ever existed. If proof for this assessment had been
found, it was the obligation of the US to provide it to the IAEA for
on-the-ground verification.
A senior IAEA official said
today: "despite repeated smear campaigns, the IAEA has stood its ground and
concluded time and again that 'there was no evidence of an undeclared nuclear
weapons program in Iran'"
The IAEA on 15 November 2007
essentially cleared Iran of all outstanding ambiguities regarding its past
nuclear programme. The agency confirmed that in multiple areas of concern, the
information provided by Iran has been consistent with the information obtained
independently by the IAEA.
Earlier, on 7 September
2007, the IAEA director general, Dr. ElBaradei, told the New York Times, "we
have not come to see any undeclared activities ... We have not seen any
weaponization of their program, nor have we received any information to that
effect". He has for several years urged skeptics in Western capitals to help the
IAEA by sharing any possible proof in their possession of suspicious nuclear
activity in Iran. Judging from the IAEA's many reports, Iran's accusers have
failed to demonstrate to the agency that they have superior information. The new
claim about a pre-2003 weapons program is no exception.
In the light of the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran and the IAEA's
own assurances, it is now clear that the decision by the Governors' Board of the
IAEA in February 2006 to report Iran's file to the UN Security Council was
without justification. Furthermore, in order to incriminate Iran, the US and its
allies exerted massive pressure on other voting board members at the time. David
Mulford, the US Ambassador to India warned the Government of India in January
2006 that there would be no US-India nuclear deal if India did not vote against
Iran at the IAEA.
On February 15th, 2007,
Stephen Rademaker, the then-US Assistant Secretary of State for International
Security and Non-Proliferation, admitted publicly that the US coerced India to
vote against Iran. Therefore, sending Iran's file to the UN Security Council and
the subsequent adoption of Resolutions 1696 and 1737 had no legitimacy.
The Campaign Against
Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) calls for the immediate
return of Iran's nuclear file from the UN Security Council to the jurisdiction
of the IAEA under the rules of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). All
UN sanctions imposed on Iran must accordingly be lifted. In addition, CASMII
reiterates its long-standing call for immediate negotiations without
pre-conditions between the US and Iran on all points of dispute.
For more information or to
contact CASMII please visit
http://www.campaigniran.org
... Payvand News - 12/06/07 ... --
