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The list of international nuclear problems continues to grow. The U.S. war victory over Iraq has presumably ended concerns about that country's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. North Korea's nuclear program is the current focus of international attention. The United States is ringing the alarm over Iran's efforts to develop nuclear weapons. Washington is taking its concerns to the International Atomic Energy Agency in hopes of winning a declaration that Tehran is in violation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. If the allegations are true — and the suspicions appear justified — then action is warranted. But it would be much better if the international community acted rather than the United States taking it upon itself to police the NPT.
Iran has long had a nuclear-energy development program, but recent disclosures have raised important questions about its purposes. Most of the international focus has been on a nuclear reactor in Busherh, which has the potential to produce weapons-grade plutonium. More recently, attention has shifted to Natanz, in central Iran, a site not known to nuclear experts until last year. The government in Tehran has revealed that it built a uranium-enrichment plant there. More worrisome are large underground structures that intelligence experts suspect contain centrifuges used to produce highly enriched uranium, a fuel that could be used for nuclear weapons.
The Iranian government maintains that the Natanz site is for peaceful purposes. It has let IAEA inspectors visit several of its nuclear facilities and has no objection to continuing discussions on signing the IAEA's Additional Protocol, which would allow tighter inspections of the facilities. Iran's claims appear to have gained the support of the IAEA after Mr. Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA director general, led a team of inspectors to Natanz in February.
The United States is not convinced. Assistant Secretary of State for Non-proliferation John Wolf has called Iran's nuclear program "the most fundamental challenge ever faced by the Non-proliferation Treaty." American experts have concluded that the Natanz site is a weapons facility. They question the very rationale for developing nuclear energy when Iran is rich in so many other fuel sources.
Russia will play a key role in settling this issue. Washington believes that Russian scientists are supplying Tehran with nuclear technology. Moscow denies the accusation, countering that "no grounds exist" for saying that Iran is in breach of its IAEA obligations. Russia has said Iran is incapable of building nuclear weapons, but earlier this year Russian officials conceded that they could not determine whether Iran was developing nuclear arms.
The United States wants the issue on the IAEA agenda for a meeting scheduled next month. Washington is pushing Russia and Western European nations to back the hardline position that Iran has violated the NPT. Such a declaration could lead to harsh action by the United Nations. While the United States is ready to let the IAEA take the lead on this issue, President George W. Bush said the United States is ready to step in if the world body does not.
Those are troubling sentiments. Suspicions surrounding Iranian action and motives involve broader concerns about terrorists getting their hands on weapons of mass destruction as well as lingering distaste in the United States for the Iranian regime. Iran is a member of Bush's "axis of evil." There are rising concerns that the victory over Baghdad may encourage the United States to take aggressive action against Iran.
Iran's relations with the United States are important for the entire region. Support for terrorists has the potential to destabilize the Middle East. Unfortunately, the issue is politically and emotionally charged, with conservatives in both countries using the prospect of engagement as a club to beat moderates.
In the current hothouse environment, the prospect of censure by the IAEA and the United Nations will not be helpful. But violation of the NPT and the prospect of yet another nuclear proliferator is unacceptable. Iran must fully disclose its nuclear ambitions — and put an end to suspicions that it seeks nuclear weapons.
The Japan Times Weekly
May 31, 2003
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北朝鮮の核兵器開発疑惑が国際的注目を集めるなか、イランの同様の疑惑に対する懸念が高まっている。米政権は国際原子力機関（IAEA）に対し「イランは核拡散防止条約（NPT）に違反している」との宣言を求めている。しかしNPTの順守については米国でなく国際社会が監視すべきだ。
イランは長年にわたり、原子力開発計画を推進しており、兵器級のプルトニウムを製造できるといわれる同国のブシェール原発が疑惑の的だった。最近イラン政府はナタンツにウラン濃縮工場を建設したことを認め、同工場を平和目的に限定しているとしている。しかし、米国は、原油などエネルギー資源の豊富なイランが原子力エネルギー開発をする意味がないとしてイランの発表を信用していない。
イランに原子力技術を供給しているとされるロシアは、イランが IAEA協定に違反しているという主張は根拠がないという。
米国はロシア、西欧諸国に、イランによるNPT違反に関する宣言を支持するよう圧力をかけている。ブッシュ大統領は、IAEAがこの問題について動かない場合、米国が介入するとしている。
イランの核疑惑にはテロリストが大量破壊兵器を入手する可能性、米国のイラン政権に対する嫌悪感がからんでいる。イラク戦争での連合軍の勝利で、米国がイランの核問題について単独行動を取る可能性があるといわれる。
問題は政治的、 感情的対立を生んでいる。IAEA、国連による非難決議は事態を悪化させるだろう。しかし、NPT違反で核拡散国が増えることは許すべきでない。イランは、核関係情報を公開し、核兵器を開発しているという疑惑を晴らすべきである。
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