New Delhi
12 April 2007
Reiterating that the Non-Aligned Movement defended the right of
countries like Iran to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, Minister of Foreign
Relations of Cuba Felipe Perez Roque on Thursday said that punitive action could not be
taken against Iran on the basis of suspicion because the International Atomic Energy
Agency did not find any evidence of a military programme.
Cuba is currently the chair of the 118-member NAM.
"Iran has the right as any other country to completely master the nuclear cycle including
production of nuclear fuel. That is a right recognised by the NPT (Non Proliferation
Treaty) and no country can be prevented from its right to acquire that technology for
peaceful purposes and the right to produce nuclear fuel cannot be prevented either," he
told reporters after concluding his two-day visit to India.
Asserting that the US had "no moral authority" to ask other countries to change because
it stockpiled weapons, he said that Washington's reluctance to discuss Israel's nuclear
programme in the UNSC but readiness to get the UNSC to impose sanctions on Iran
illustrated its "double standards". Dwelling on Washington's aggressive designs, he
said that the US was waging an "economic war" against Cuba and financing terrorist acts
against Cuban nationals.
Mr Roque, who is on a three-nation tour of Asia that will take him to Vietnam and China,
said that he hopes India will raise the voice of NAM when it becomes a permanent
member of the UNSC. Cuba wants two countries each from Asia, Africa and Latin America
as new UNSC members with veto powers. "Open, transparent and inclusive debate
[should replace] the deleterious and dangerous trend of secret meetings of the
Permanent Five, of coming with decision (taken) beforehand," he said in response to a
question about UN reform.
He said that the US has pushed Iraq to the "brink of fragmentation" and there could be no
solution without withdrawing the US troops from there. "An attack on Iran would further
complicate matters in the region ... we hope that will not be the case," he said. Earlier he
told this newspaper on the sidelines of a function at Jamia Millia Islamia University that
he had "a very useful conversation" on bilateral, regional and international issues with
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. India and Cuba have identified oil, biotechnology and
information technology for cooperation in economic sphere.
No comments:
Post a Comment