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Dutch walk out on Iranian speech at nuclear weapons conferenceTuesday 04 May 2010 Dutch delegates to the nuclear weapons conference in New York joined colleagues from the US, Britain and France in walking out on the speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday night. During his speech, Ahmadinejad accused countries with nuclear weapons of threatening those who wanted to develop peaceful nuclear technology. Nuclear powers which did not disarm 'serve as a justification for the others to develop their own', he said. 'The possession of nuclear bombs is not a source of pride. Its possession is disgusting and shameful,' the BBC quoted him as saying. US bases Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen said later the walk-out by Dutch diplomats was not because Ahmadinejad had refered to US nuclear weapons bases in Europe but because it contributed 'nothing constructive' to the debate. The Dutch delegation left at the moment the Iranian president accused Israel of wanting to attack other countries in the region. 'If Iran really believed nuclear weapons are something to be ashamed of, it would... be open about its own nuclear programme,' news agency ANP quoted him as saying. Motion On Tuesday, Socialist MP Krista van Velzen accused Verhagen of avoiding the issue in his own speech to the meeting. Verhagen called for a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons but that is not the same as withdrawal, she said. 'It was a weak story that will not contribute to a nuclear-free Europe,' she told the Telegraaf. © DutchNews.nl
Was truth so intolerable? By david | May 4, 2010 8:35 AM I like this part of the article "The Dutch delegation left at the moment the Iranian president accused Israel of wanting to attack other countries in the region. 'If Iran really believed nuclear weapons are something to be ashamed off, it would... be open about its own nuclear program,' news agency ANP quoted him as saying." Is Israel open about its nuclear capabilities???? I’m not pro Iran but we have to put tackle things with the same scale. We are pushing for Iran to divulge their nuclear capability and admit that they have nuclear weapons and we are not doing the same with others. Does that mean we know what they have or we do not care because they are friendly nation to us and they are not expected to harm us? By Al | May 4, 2010 8:55 AM Well, the Iranian president isn`t dealing with a full deck of cards upstairs if you know what I mean? However, he does have a point and we in the West aren´t exactly showing a good example by being hypocritical and possessing nuclear weapons ourselves. By SandraV | May 4, 2010 10:29 AM What is wrong with having double standards? If you see a guy in a shop trying to buy a knife and shouting that he will kill everyone around once he has the knife, would you let him buy it? Or would you apply double standards and refuse? By Peter | May 4, 2010 1:24 PM Dutch delegates did the right thing. Iran is a totalitarist country and his "leader" has no respect for human rights or freedom of speech. Alowing a man like this to have such nuclear power or supporting his cause is insane. By D. | May 4, 2010 4:31 PM Iran's nuclear ambitions need to be transparent, which they are not. The world is not denying them their right to nuclear energy... all we ask is that they allow their facilities to be open and visible to all. This is not just the thinking of the West or Israel but also most of Iran's Arab neighbours. By Buzzer | May 4, 2010 5:08 PM @ Buzzer - Well if your argument applied to Israel too then it might be valid. Why apply double standards? It seems to me that the greatest threat in the Middle East is from unaccountable Israel. Let them show the rest of the world their nuclear arsenal and let them explain to us why they feel they need to take such extreme measures without a credible threat to them. By Deep Throat | May 4, 2010 10:30 PM If you have nothing to hide, why not open your doors for the world to see?? Seems as tho Iran is about as trusty as a snake. By howard de barfield | May 5, 2010 1:53 AM Deep Throat: Israel is not threatening its neighbors with annihilation or refusing their right to exist. I admit that Israel should declare their nuclear capabilities and become a signatory of the non-proliferation treaty; that said, no one is worried that Israel will do something completely stupid or that it has a preoccupation with an afterlife with vestal virgins awaiting. By Buzzer | May 5, 2010 2:54 PM What a hypocrisy! Or is it blindness? By Kleo | May 6, 2010 11:11 AM Israel is not threatening its neighbors with annihilation or refusing their right to exist.// By Tarig | May 9, 2010 10:39 AM
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The United States has over 5000 nuclear warheads, France 300 and the U.K. 185. Unaccountable Israel does not feel the need to let the world know how many weapons of mass destruction it possesses. Why then do the delegates from the above named countries take it upon themselves to walk out of a conference on nuclear weapons when the Iranian president criticises Israel?
The double standards and hypocrisy are quite staggering. To my knowledge and to the rest of the worlds, Iran does not possess nuclear warheads. To my knowledge, it is Israel who has threatened Iran with destruction if it does not comply with U.N. requirements to halt it´s own nuclear program.
I know who most frightens me in this world of weapons of mass destruction and it IS NOT Iran!
By Deep Throat | May 4, 2010 8:27 AM