Condemn the UN Security Council's Presidential Statement on Iran
On March 29 the UN Security Council issued a
presidential statement calling on Iran to implement the steps set out by the Board
of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on February
4, and calling on the director general
of the IAEA to report to the Security Council within 30 days on Iran's
compliance. The presidential statement, although legally non-binding, marks a
further escalation of the all-round attacks on Iran led by the United States,
Britain and France.
The presidential statement repeated the
unsubstantiated allegations coming from the United States, Britain and France
that Iran is building nuclear weapons.
These allegations are based on unsubstantiated U.S. intelligence reports, as
well as on the distortion and denial of the actual findings and conclusions of
the IAEA which has repeatedly declared that there is no evidence of any
militarily-related nuclear activity in Iran.
The presidential statement endorsed the
demands put on Iran by the IAEA board on
February 4, especially that Iran
re-establish full and sustained suspension of all uranium enrichment-related
and reprocessing activities, including research and development. These demands
go beyond the legal obligations required by member states under the terms of
the IAEA Statutes and Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. They are a blatant
violation of the sovereignty of Iran.
The allegation that Iran is building nuclear weapons
is a ruse created by the United States, Britain and France to disguise its
hegemonic ambitions towards Iran. The Americans want the backing of the entire
UN Security Council so that they can
claim that they are acting on behalf of the international community and with
full legal authority. The Canadian government has assisted the United States on
this front by supporting its every action within the IAEA.
The United States, Britain and France would
have preferred a Security Council resolution, adopted under Chapter VII of the
UN Charter, declaring Iran a threat to international peace and security, and
making the suspension of uranium enrichment mandatory, thereby paving the way
for severe enforcement actions. However, with only the limited co-operation of
Russia and China on this issue, the United States, Britain and France had to
settle for the presidential statement.
Even though the United States is the sole
superpower in the world today, it is not strong enough to achieve its aims
unilaterally. It would like a unipolar world under
its dictate but is unable to achieve this. Even its undisputed control over the
Americas has been put into question by the emergence of middle-level powers in
South America. Therefore, the United States is forced to act in co-operation
with other world powers and regional powers, like Britain, France, Russia and
China, to pursue its hegemonic ambitions.
The resistance from Russia and China to some
of the U.S. demands on the question of Iran does not indicate that these
countries are allies of the oppressed nations or peoples. Rather, they are
contending with the other major powers and regional powers for hegemony in
their own regions and globally. They are also collaborating with the other
major powers and regional powers to oppose the just struggles of the peoples
for national and social liberation.
In the case of Iran, Russia and China have
vested interests in maintaining relations with Iran, but they also have vested
interests in maintaining their relations with the United States. Hence, on the
question of Iran they have until now acquiesced to certain demands of the
United States but not to others. They have also exerted pressure on Iran to
accept some of the demands of the United States, Britain, France and Germany.
The UN Security Council is only one front of
the American attack against Iran. The United States is also trying to encourage
pro-U.S. forces in Iran. It has recently budgeted millions of dollars to spread
disinformation within Iran in order to incite people against the government. It
has also made contingency plans with its NATO allies like Canada for economic,
political and military actions against Iran outside of the framework of the
United Nations.
On March 5, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, told delegates to the annual convention of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee, the leading pro-Israel U.S. lobby group, that: "The Iran regime must be made aware that it if continues down the path of international isolation, there will be tangible and painful consequences". He said Iran poses a “comprehensive threat” as a state sponsor of terrorism as well as a nuclear aspirant and so “we must be prepared to rely on comprehensive solutions and use all the tools at our disposal to stop the threat that the Iranian regime poses.”
On March 9, U.S. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said at a U.S. congressional hearing that "We may face no
greater challenge from a single country than from Iran, whose policies are
directed at developing a Middle East that would be 180 degrees different than
the Middle East we would like to see developed."
On March 13, U.S. President George W. Bush
issued an executive order to continue a national emergency with respect to Iran
that was declared on March 15, 1995
"to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national
security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States constituted by the
actions and policies of the government of Iran." The executive order
extends the U.S. economic sanctions against Iran.
Modern Communism condemns the UN Security Council's presidential statement on Iran and the Canadian government's stand on this question. The Canadian working class and people want a foreign policy which opposes hegemonism and war. They want a foreign policy based on respect for the equality of all countries, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries, the peaceful resolution of disputes between countries, and peaceful coexistence among countries with differing systems.