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International Response: G-8 Urges North Korean, Iranian Nuclear Transparency By Mike Nartker In a declaration released yesterday, the G-8 nations — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — harshly criticized North Korea’s uranium enrichment and plutonium production programs, as well as Pyongyang’s failure to abide by its International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards agreement. Such actions “undermine the nonproliferation regime and are a clear breach of North Korea’s international obligations,” the G-8 said. The G-8 called on Pyongyang to “visibly, verifiably and irreversibly” end its nuclear weapons efforts as a first step to finding a peaceful solution to the crisis surrounding North Korea’s relaunched nuclear program. In less harsh language, the G-8 also pledged to “not ignore the proliferation implications of Iran’s advanced nuclear program.” Group members emphasized the need for Iran to fully comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and called on Tehran to sign the Additional Protocol to its IAEA safeguards agreement, which would give the agency the authority to monitor Iranian nuclear activities more closely. “We offer our strongest support to comprehensive IAEA examination of this country’s nuclear program,” the G-8 said in its declaration. Beyond focusing on North Korea and Iran’s nuclear efforts, the G-8 also emphasized the need for broader nonproliferation measures, such as the creation of national WMD-related export control systems and national standards for the safe and secure storage of WMD-related materials. In addition, group members also recognized the importance of several international nonproliferation conventions, such as the NPT, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention, and called on all countries to join these agreements. “We recognize that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their means of delivery poses a growing danger to us all,” the G-8 said. “Together with the spread of international terrorism, it is the pre-eminent threat to international security,” it said. French President Jacques Chirac today denied implications that the G-8 nonproliferation declaration opens the way for possible military action against Iran or North Korea. While the declaration calls for “other measures ... in accordance with international law” if necessary to combat nonproliferation, to interpret this as permitting military action is “extremely audacious,” Chirac said at the close of the G-8 summit.
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