Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Germany Calls for Reduction in Nuclear Arsenals

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Published on Tuesday, 20 June 2006 14:27

Germany has called for the world\'s leading nuclear powers to reduce their atomic arsenals as they press Iran to curb its nuclear programme. Foreig n Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- to make concessions in the context of the Iran dispute, Spiegel magazine has reported. \"I am in fact of the view that, beyond the current Iran conflict, we must review the worldwide nuclear armament status. We are in favour of effectively applying the Non-Proliferation Treaty. It contains the promise of the nuclear powers disarming, and we should press them to do that,\" he said. The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a 1970 global pact against the spread of atomic weapons which is policed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. Germany, a non-nuclear power, and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members have offered Tehran a package under which Iran would get trade and technology benefits if it halts uranium enrichment work. \"So far we have not had a clear sign, or a real reaction,\" Steinmeier said of the offer made to Iran. \"What is positive, however, is that we are apparently for the first time seeing Iran in a state of reflection.\"