[Editorial] Double standards at the UN must stop

The United Nations Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Iran for rejecting international demands that it stop enriching uranium. The move comes at a time when there is already a heightened sense of crisis about the spread of nuclear technology, making the decision significant as an expression of the international community’s determination to oppose nuclear proliferation.

The problem, however, is that if Iran refuses to accommodate the resolution, there is nothing to force it to cooperate. The resolution does allow for additional action, such as breaking off diplomatic ties or another vote by the UNSC, but it is clear these would not have much effect. The Iranian government has essentially rejected calls for it to stop its enrichment program, declaring that it will continue nuclear fusion within the parameters set by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

So ultimately the goal of the resolution is, as Russia’s ambassador to the UN put it, to pressure Iran into getting back to the negotiation table so that there can be a diplomatic resolution. Even that, however, is probably not going to be easy. Iran’s ambassador to the UN Javad Zarif accused the UNSC of hypocrisy for applying sanctions in Iran while not taking action towards Israel, which admittedly possesses nuclear weapons. It was a hint that Iran intends to officially take issue with the UN’s double standard regarding Israeli nukes.

Double standards about nuclear weapons at the UN, and particularly in the United States, are nothing new. You can see it by looking only at the history of Iran’s nuclear program. Prior to the Iranian revolution of 1979, the US strongly supported Iran’s development of its nuclear capabilities. Then-U.S. State Secretary Henry Kissinger said nuclear power would help the Iranian economy grow and satisfy its energy needs which, in turn, would allow it to export a surplus of oil. The Iranian government is employing the same argument today for its uranium enrichment program, but last year, Kissinger, in an op-ed piece in the Washington Post, said, "For a major oil producer such as Iran, nuclear energy is a wasteful use of resources." Kissinger frankly stated that the reason for his change of position was that 30 years ago, Iran was a U.S. ally.

It is the arbitrariness of powerful nations that is putting the world at risk of nuclear proliferation. They close their eyes to nuclear programs by allies and tell those that aren’t to abide by the NPT. How, then, will they get the international community to go along? If the UN is serious about stopping the spread of nuclear technology, it needs to begin to stop tolerating double standards.

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