Iran rejects intrusive nuclear inspections as unfair in view of Israel

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Iran on Monday rejected pressure to submit to intrusive nuclear inspections while Israel is outside the global treaty to curb atomic weapons. "The existing double standard shall not be tolerated anymore by non-nuclear-weapon states," Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh told a meeting of the countries in the 190-nation Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. He said nuclear armed countries such as the United States, France and Britain were practicing "nuclear apartheid" by clandestinely providing nuclear supplies to favored countries while denying or restricting peaceful nuclear technology to countries like Iran. "Access of developing countries to peaceful nuclear materials and technologies has been continuously denied to the extent that they have had no choice than to acquire their requirements for peaceful uses of nuclear energy, including for medical and industrial applications from open markets," Soltanieh said. This usually means the material provided is more expensive, poorer quality and less safe, he added.