Quote:
Originally Posted by flylock shox
It's been a long while since I looked at it, but my understanding of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty is that it is designed to limit nuclear armaments among signatory states, but encourage the development of nuclear technology for power purposes. In fact, I think it's a right for signatory states to develop nuclear power.
If that's still the case, and Iran's a signatory, then they're very much entitled to nuclear power (allowing, of course, for other restrictions they may be subject to).
If I had more time and inclination, I'd look this up again myself. But it might be an interesting thing for someone with more motivation to take a gander at.
It will be interesting to see how Israel responds. Particularly if the US is not inclined to act and, implicitly anyway, withholds Israel's carte blanche. This is a very concerning development for them, regardless of what Iran's rights might be.
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Yes, that's pretty much correct. The one caveat I'd add is that Iran has been in violation of the NPT in that they did not fully disclose their enrichment efforts, even though those efforts were not illegal in and of themselves. Since that happened in 2006, the IAEA has found them to be complete in disclosing their enrichment efforts.
As well, I think the more significant is that Khamenei has issued a fatwa against even developing nuclear weapons as a deterrant tactic. There are those within Iran who disagree with him, but unless Khamenei dies and is replaced by an even more conservative supreme leader (very unlikely given the relatively moderate leanings of the assembly of experts), it's unlikely that nuclear weapon development would be a real part of Iran's defense strategy.