Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate

[larrymeyer]

Who elected this jackass ??????

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090602/...bama_interview

Obama says Iran's energy concerns legitimate


Tue Jun 2, 9:24 am ET
LONDON – President Barack Obama suggested that Iran may have some right to nuclear energy — provided it proves by the end of the year that its aspirations are peaceful.

In a BBC interview broadcast Tuesday, he also restated plans to pursue direct diplomacy with Tehran to encourage it set aside any ambitions for nuclear weapons it might harbor.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity. But the U.S. and other Western governments accuse Tehran of seeking atomic weapons.

"What I do believe is that Iran has legitimate energy concerns, legitimate aspirations," Obama said, adding that the international community also "has a very real interest" in preventing a nuclear arms race.

The president has indicated a willingness to seek deeper international sanctions against Tehran if it does not respond positively to U.S. attempts to open negotiations on its nuclear program. Obama has said Tehran has until the end of the year to show it wants to engage with Washington.

"Although I don't want to put artificial time tables on that process, we do want to make sure that, by the end of this year, we've actually seen a serious process move forward. And I think that we can measure whether or not the Iranians are serious," Obama said.

Obama's interview offered a preview of a speech he is to deliver in Egypt this week, saying he hoped the address would warm relations between Americans and Muslims abroad.

"What we want to do is open a dialogue," Obama told the BBC. "You know, there are misapprehensions about the West, on the part of the Muslim world. And, obviously, there are some big misapprehensions about the Muslim world when it comes to those of us in the West."

Obama leaves in the evening on a trip to Egypt and Saudi Arabia aimed at reaching out to the world's 1.5 billion Muslims. He is due to make his speech in Cairo on Thursday.

Obama sounded an optimistic note about making progress toward resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, although he offered no new ideas for how he might try to secure a freeze on new building of Israeli settlements. The United States has called for a freeze, but Israeli leaders have rejected that.

Asked what he would say during his visit about human rights abuses, including the detention of political prisoners in Egypt, Obama indicated no stern lecture would be forthcoming.

He said he hoped to deliver the message that democratic values are principles that "they can embrace and affirm."

Obama added that there is a danger "when the United States, or any country, thinks that we can simply impose these values on another country with a different history and a different culture."

[PocketProtector]

NOT I.....and this a week after the N. Koreans who were only after power set of an A Bomb......really freaking unbelievable.

[Paradigm]

So, Iran is allowed to have new nuke plants...but we aren't?

[1861]

I didn't , but I'm sure some are still proud they did .

[H.E. Pennypacker]

So, Iran is allowed to have new nuke plants...but we aren't?

NIMBY...and LIBERAL.

[camper]

But Ahmadinejad is gonna pinky swear that he won't use nuclear anything to make weapons...honest injun!

camper

[Philbert]

From Fox:

Supporting the emirates' use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes is also intended to be a counterweight to Iran's pursuit of atomic weapons. Obama, as did his predecessor, George W. Bush, sees the emirates' program as a positive example for other countries, especially in the volatile Middle East.

Under the pact, the United Arab Emirates must import, rather than produce, fuel for its nuclear reactors. It also has committed not to enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel for plutonium, which is used in nuclear bombs.

The agreement creates the legal framework for the U.S. to transfer sensitive nuclear items to the United Arab Emirates. The pact was signed in January by the departing Bush administration, which left the final decision to Obama.

Relevant parts bolded for those who cannot think past partisan hatred long enough to consider the real issue.

This is a smart move by Bush and Obama because it takes away the "but we need nuclear energy!" excuse for building a bomb. Nuclear energy IS a legitimate purpose under the NPT and indeed the promise of nuclear energy was one incentive we gave to get so many countries to forswear on building nuclear bombs. Obama is probably going to offer a similar deal to Iran that will let them have nuclear fuel but will make building nuclear weapons much harder. Iran has talked itself into a corner by going on and on about peaceful nuclear energy...so Obama is going to capitalize on that by offering it to them. If they turn it down it's tantamount to admitting that they want nukes.

[TXDMERC73]

Any Country that hates America should not have any Nuclear Technology at all ....Iran , North Korea ,Afghanistan and Iraq all dislike America.....Obama is a fool for trusting Iran, my father told me "trust no one". Nuclear Technology secrets originate from America, the secrets were stolen and given away to Russia and that show the Technology spread so we should have a copyright on that technology.

[camper]

Relevant parts bolded for those who cannot think past partisan hatred long enough to consider the real issue..

Some of us didn't like the idea when Bush proposed it, much like TARP and the first GM bailout.

camper

[Philbert]

Any Country that hates America should not have any Nuclear Technology at all ....Iran , North Korea ,Afghanistan and Iraq all dislike America.....Obama is a fool for trusting Iran, my father told me "trust no one". Nuclear Technology secrets originate from America, the secrets were stolen and given away to Russia and that show the Technology spread so we should have a copyright on that technology.

Treaty obligation fail. From the NPT:

1. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with articles I and II of this Treaty.

2. All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Parties to the Treaty in a position to do so shall also cooperate in contributing alone or together with other States or international organizations to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of the world.