US, Iran Clash at UN Over Nuclear Non-Proliferation Role

The 11th conference to review implementation of the NPT began on Monday at the United Nations in New York. Different groups nominated 34 conference vice presidents, and the conference chair, Vietnam’s UN ambassador Do Hung Viet, said Iran was picked by “the group of non-aligned and other states.”

Christopher Yeaw, assistant secretary for the US Bureau of Arms Control and Nonproliferation, told the conference that Iran’s selection was an “affront” to the NPT. He said it was “indisputable that Iran has long demonstrated its contempt for the non-proliferation commitments of the NPT,” and had refused to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog to resolve questions about its programme.

Reza Najafi, who serves as Tehran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, rejected the US statement as “baseless and politically motivated.” He said it was indefensible that United States, as the only state ever to have used nuclear weapons, seeks to position itself as an arbitrator of compliance.