Cuba Opposes IAEA Vote over Iran

HAVANA TIMES, Nov 19 — Cuba and Ecuador were the only two countries that opposed a resolution approved Friday to apply stepped up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program.

The measure was approved by a 32-2 vote by the 35-member board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  Indonesia abastained.  Russia and China joined the USA and its Western allies on the UN Security Council.

“It is no longer within the bounds of credulity to claim that Iran’s nuclear activities are solely peaceful,” said Glyn Davies, the chief U.S. delegate to the IAEA. “There is little doubt that Iran…at the very least, wants to position itself for a nuclear weapons capability,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cuba recalled the lies surrounding the attack on Iraq in 2003, over supposed weapons of mass destruction in the hands of former president Saddam Hussein.  Cuban ambassador to the IAEA, Juan Carlos Marsán, noted that the same people who fabricated the false accusations regarding Iraq are now propagating a climate of distrust and aggression against Iran.

Iran has continued to defend its nuclear energy program against insistence from its adversaries that it aims to join the club of nuclear arms powers.

In criticizing what Cuba considers a double standard, Marasán added: “Nobody is making reference to the powerful nuclear arsenal of Israel which constitutes a real threat to the countries of the region.”

Both the United States and Israel, the leading nuclear power in the Middle East region, have made it public that the possibility of a military strike against Iran to derail its nuclear program is “on the table.”