Speaking in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room on June 9, President Obama made a statement commenting on the UN Security Council’s vote earlier in the day to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Iran in response to that nation’s controversial nuclear-fuel enrichment program. “This resolution will put in place the toughest sanctions ever faced by the Iranian government,” said the President, “and it sends an unmistakable message about the international community’s commitment to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.”
Obama also charged that “Iran further violated its own obligations under UN Security Council resolutions to suspend uranium enrichment. Instead, they’re enriching up to 20 percent. It has failed to comply fully with IAEA’s requirements. Indeed, Iran is the only NPT signatory in the world — the only one — that cannot convince the IAEA that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes.”
Obama closed his remarks by saying: “Today’s sanctions are yet another signal that if the Iranian government continues to undermine the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty] and the peace that it protects, then Iran will find itself more isolated, less prosperous and less secure.”
These remarks mirrored similar statements that Obama made during his his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly last September 23, during which he harkened back to the fear of nuclear annihilation that was strong in the aftermath of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — fear that served as a strong initial impetus for founding the UN. Obama prefaced those remarks by saying: “This institution was founded at the dawn of the atomic age, in part because man’s capacity to kill had to be contained.” In that speech, he urged that UN members support “efforts to strengthen the NPT,” warning that “those nations that refuse to live up to their obligations must face consequences.”
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also made comments about the passage of the UN sanctions on June 9 to reporters gathered in Bogata, Colombia. “I do know from reports coming from a number of other countries that have had first-hand negotiations over the nuclear program that there is a diversity of opinion within the leadership — not over their right to enrich to use for peaceful nuclear purposes that is absolutely agreed to by everyone in the leadership, but whether or not there should be a move toward a breakout capacity of toward weapons,” said Clinton. “There is a lot of debate within the [Iranian] leadership.”

source: New American

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