GLOBAL TENSIONS have risen palpably in the wake of Iran's decision to resume its nuclear programme. While maintaining that its research has peaceful aims, Tehran worries its foes.
This anxiety has been compounded by the rhetorical aggression of the Islamic republic's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Among his controversial statements has been his declaration that Israel should be destroyed. And Israel, one recalls, is the one Middle Eastern state known to possess nuclear weapons. The spectre of a nuclear conflict, however remote, has resurfaced. Those fears could not have been allayed by the French president's hint that he might use nuclear weapons in response to a state-sponsored terrorist attack.
Initial impressions are that efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weaponry are failing. In recent years, India and Pakistan joined the nuclear club, ignoring global condemnation. Nobody seems able to stop North Korea doing likewise. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is apparently fraying.
However, this conclusion might be unfair. A world without the NPT would likely have been even more frightening. And though it may be hard to prevent yet another country acquiring nuclear weapons, the international community seems more united than divided by its desire to keep Iran's intentions peaceful.
This stance got some affirmation on the weekend when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear activities.
The Islamic republic has reacted with defiance declaring that it would pursue full-scale enrichment of uranium which can be used to help build bombs or, as Iran claims, produce energy for civilian purposes. It will also halt snap inspections of its nuclear sites by IAEA personnel.
In view of these developments, the world community should strive towards a united, principled position, and adhere to it rigorously. While some might think it "fair" that a country obtain the weapons its enemy already possesses, it is not clear how the rest of us would benefit from a world increasingly awash in nuclear bombs.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
