IAEA demands to inspect Israeli nukes

Fri, 09/18/2009 - 4:05pm

This is a major shift:

The UN nuclear assembly voted on Friday to urge Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and place all atomic sites under UN inspections, in a surprise victory for Arab states.

The resolution, passed narrowly for the first time in nearly two decades, expresses concern about "Israeli nuclear capabilities" and calls on International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei to work on the issue. 

The Middle East resolution, sponsored by Arab states, was backed by 49 votes to 45 against in a floor vote at the IAEA's annual member states conference. The vote split along Western and developing nation lines. There were 16 abstentions


This is a major victory as the Israel's representative on the council has already promised to "not cooperate in any matter with this resolution which is only aiming at reinforcing political hostilities and lines of division in the Middle East region." 

It also probably won't do a whole lot for the credibility of the IAEA to have one more country over which it is powerless to enforce its rulings.

Joshua Keating | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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I can only see this as either

by Grant on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 4:56pm

I can only see this as either bad politics or an active effort to dismantle the IAEA. The entire world knows that Israel won't cooperate, especially as that is one area of politics that the U.S won't push Israel on. Combined with Iran, North Korea, India, Pakistan, and Syria's unexplained nuclear facilities the IAEA becomes less credible every day which increasingly adds to the danger of a nuclear world.

Inspect Israeli nukes

by kerpogs on Fri, 09/18/2009 - 5:39pm

The way that the nuclear weapons world works today is that if you are "trusted" by the US and Europe-- you can overtly or covertly hold on to your nukes, particularly if a nation is not part of the non-proliferation regime.

Maybe not...

by courtneyme109 on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 8:13pm

Sure - at first glance that certainly seems the deal. Closer inspection however reveals that democracies do not fear nuclear ambiguity in regards to other.

Tolerant, egalitarian societies with a penchant for periodic, transparent elections, a free, uncensored press, a nat’l treasury under public scrutiny, a military under civie control, an independent judiciary under elected Gov oversight are NOT the problem.

Rather unelected, unfree regimes that torment their own people and their neighbors are

Really?

by Don Bacon on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 11:08pm

So it's just an illusion that the democratic USA and the democratic Israel have done most of the bombing, invading and occupying in the last fifty years, and are NOT the problem? And the democratic USA is NOT the only nation to have ever obliterated two cities with nuclear weapons?

just another sign

by Don Bacon on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 9:57am

This is just another sign that the credibility of the west is sinking like a rock and that a new world diplomatic design is rising.

Reuters: U.N. Security Council members Russia and China backed the Israel resolution, passed by a 49-45 margin by the IAEA's annual member states gathering. The vote split along Western and developing nation lines.//

There is of course no danger to IAEA credibility. The Middle East is a continuing world flashpoint. The UN, including the IAEA, must deal with it. It can't be left in the blundering hands of the US and its servile western friends. The rest of the world recognizes that the IAEA, recent Nobel Peace Prize winners, must be in the game.

Reuters: A senior diplomat from the non-aligned movement (NAM) of developing nations said times had changed. "People and countries are bolder now, willing to call a spade a spade. You cannot hide or ignore the truth, the double standards, of Israel's nuclear capability forever," he said.//

This particular matter is an offshoot of the Iran "crisis," with much of the world backing Iran against the western imperialists, as we shall soon soon in even greater clarity. The US claim that Iran is "isolated" is untrue, as this vote sponsored even by Arab states clearly shows.

Actually this isn't much

by Grant on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 3:48pm

Actually this isn't much different from the norm. I suggest you take a class on international organizations, at the U.N the group of 77 developing nations in the General Assembly tend to vote as a bloc. It's much the same at the IAEA as well.

a funny thinbg happened on the way to the corral

by Don Bacon on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 4:20pm

This is a major shift . . a major victory

v.

Actually this isn't much different from the norm.

Ah, I'll go with Joshua. I see this move as a stalking horse for the upcoming high-noon showdown with Iran that Obama has promised us. Or, to mix metaphors even further, a warning shot across the bow of the USS America that the US can't have its way in the world any longer.

Upon reflection, I will agree that the IAEA has lost some credibility when it buckled under to unlawful US demands that Iran prove its own innocence by responding to mysterious "evidence" supposedly found on some laptop somewhere, "evidence" which couldn't be provided to Iran. Hopefully we're done with that nonsense.

Unlawful? That implies that

by Grant on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 6:33pm

Unlawful? That implies that there was some law to be broken.

The NPT

by Don Bacon on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 7:13pm

is a treaty, and therefore a law, and Iran is in full compliance with it as a signatory, which Israel isn't. You really need to go to some classes and catch up.

A. Treaties differ from laws,

by Grant on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 10:07pm

A. Treaties differ from laws, big differences in fact.
B. Iran's compliance is disputed by far more than just the U.S
C. Obviously the IAEA doesn't think that Iran is completely compliant either given the already existing punishments
C. Demanding that the IAEA or anyone else put sanctions on a nation for nuclear matters has absolutely nothing to do with the law or the breaking of law.

you still need classes

by Don Bacon on Sat, 09/19/2009 - 10:50pm

A. Perhaps you can provide evidence on why the NPT treaty, as any international treaty, is not enforceable under international law.
B. Of course the US has enlisted its allies in its historical campaign against Iran.
C. The IAEA has repeatedly determined that Iran is in compliance with the NPT, i.e. that it is not diverting uranium,. That is the ONLY purview of the IAEA under the NPT. All the other IAEA dictates were prescribed by the US and its allies but they are extra-legal to the NPT. The "laptop of mass destruction", for example (recall Iraq's Niger yellow-cake), with its purported thousand pages of incriminating documents, is pure horsepucky.
D. The IAEA has no authority to sanction any country, and, yes, sanctions are a political move and have nothing to do with law. The whole Iran "crisis", in fact, has nothing to do with facts and has everything to do with politics. The neo-crazies (used to be neocons, now are neolibs) won't be happy until they get son-of-shah in power in Iran, just like the old days.

In re. to A. that would be

by Grant on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 3:49am

In re. to A. that would be because the only reason that the NPT has any power is because the member states decide that it has power. There isn't an appointed 'policeman' was it were to enforce the rules. Instead member states are relied on to act together.

In re. to B. And I suppose that when the United States enlists allies on a foreign policy goal it is somehow dirty and filled with conspiracy, whereas when Venezuela enlists allies it somehow becomes an eternal force for good. The point is that every single state gathers allies when it embarks on a venture. There is absolutely no reason not to.

In re. to C. For the first part IAEA inspectors have also been ordered out of Iran multiple times in the past few years. That could of course be a political act designed to maintain uncertainty about the matter, but it hardly gives one confidence. For the second, unless you can actually get a reliable source (i.e. a known and reliable politician, respected news article, major think tank, etc and NOT Wiki) I cannot trust that.
In re. to D. That, in similar manner and spirit to my previous point is very subjective and I ask for the same source.
Obviously when online it is difficult to get documentation of claims, but I have enough respect for this site to ask that others have more hard evidence in their statements.

you got one right

by Don Bacon on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 9:49am

the only reason that the NPT has any power is because the member states decide that it has power. There isn't an appointed 'policeman' was it were to enforce the rules.

Again, the NPT is a treaty which is a law. The IAEA is charged with surveillance of uranium processing by treaty signatories to ensure non-diversion into weapons, and reporting any violations to the UNSC for enforcement. That's what the IAEA has been doing with Iran, a treaty signatory, and now has been asked to do with Israel in connection with Israel becoming a treaty signatory (which it refuses).

I suppose that when the United States enlists allies on a foreign policy goal it is somehow dirty and filled with conspiracy

With respect to Iran, you sure got that right. Congratulations.

IAEA inspectors have also been ordered out of Iran multiple times in the past few years.

Baloney. You're repeating false Iraq propaganda. IAEA inspectors have had continuing full access to Iran's uranium enrichment facilities, and Iran has even allowed surveillance beyond statutory requirements.

What Iran has refused to do is to halt its lawful peaceful nuclear program, to allow UN spooks to dig around in other areas, and to provide comments on hoked-up documents supposedly found on a laptop, documents that the US and the UN refuseds to provide Iran.

Treaty law

by marik7 on Sun, 09/20/2009 - 11:42pm

I may be wrong, but I thought that treaties that have been signed by the US become US law.

What's up?

nuclear

by ckeckthat55 on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 1:40am

UN nuclear assembly voted on Friday to urge Israel to accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and place all atomic sites under UN inspections, in a surprise victory for Arab states.UN just want to make Arab country happy
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UN and Israeil nukes

by arvay on Mon, 09/21/2009 - 6:17am

Finally, someone is pointing to the obvious reason Iran, Syria or any other power in the region might seek nuclear weapons.

Already, pro-Israeli types are calling for the nullification of the IAEI -- this can be added to the long string of UN resolutions ignored by Israel - a perfect symphony of arrogance, lawlessness and disdain for everyone.