Cross posted at Daily Kos
You may or may not be aware that Iran and Russia held talks on, among other things, nuclear issues this week.
According to this report, Iranian Head of Foreign Affairs Hossein Mousavian noted:
Russia is against international discrimination toward Iran’s nuclear program and activities
International discrimination ? What could they mean ?
Well firstly, as reported by the Hindustan Times of India on April 20 they could be referring to circumstances like President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan saying that he would
never allow foreign inspectors into the country to examine Pakistan’s nuclear facilities………If the IAEA has questions about our nuclear programme then let them ask us. We have nothing to hide. We will give them all the information they want but we will not allow their inspectors into our country to question our officials or inspect our facilities
Or secondly, as reported by ABC News on April 20, they could be referring to circumstances such as Saudi Arabia has
quietly begun talks on a U.N.-sanctioned agreement that could curtail any outside probe of its atomic intentions…..Saudi Arabia has never negotiated an agreement that would define IAEA controls, even though it is obligated to do so as a signer of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
Or thirdly, as Der Spiegel reported on March 30, they could be referring to the fact that critics say that the United States
by illegally testing and building nuclear weapons, …. is fueling a new arms race.
Wait a minute, can anybody spot a difference between Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran
Here’s some clues
From a NYT story March 25, “The Bush administration agreed today to sell Pakistan F-16 fighter planes in a major policy shift that was meant to reward Pakistan for its help in combating terrorism.”
According to the link, for January 2005 Saudi Arabia was the top supplier of Crude Oil and Petroleum Products to the USA with 16% of the total, while Iran supplied 0 barrels (that’s 0%).
Remember a speech that contained “Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror” and “States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world”
Now I’m not suggesting there’s anything we can do about these double standards, just interested on anybodies thoughts on this as somewhere down the line I am worried that Iranian compliance/alleged non-compliance with the IAEA may be used as a trigger for a request for UN resolutions which may be used as a trigger……sound familiar ??