MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
8.2.2006
pursuant to Rule 103(2) of the Rules of Procedure
by Angelika Beer, Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit, Monica Frassoni, Rebecca Harms, Joost Lagendijk, Raül Romeva i Rueda and Claude Turmes
on behalf of the Verts/ALE Group
on Iran
B6‑0106/2006
European Parliament resolution on Iran
The European Parliament,
– having regard to the Paris Agreement of 29 November 2004 between the Islamic Republic of Iran (Iran) and the United Kingdom, France and Germany (E3) and to Iran's decision of 1 August 2005 to resume uranium conversion activities in contravention of the provisions of the Paris Agreement,
– having regard to the resolution of the Board of Governors of 11 August 2005 urging Iran to re-establish full suspension of all enrichment-related activities and to permit the Director General to reinstate the seals that had been removed at the facility concerned,
– having regard to the motion approved by the Iranian Majlis on 28 September 2005 which lays out a plan for the government to suspend the implementation of the NPT Additional Protocol until Tehran succeeds in obtaining recognition of its right to complete the nuclear fuel cycle,
– having regard to the Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 11 January 2006 at its 60th session on the Follow-up to nuclear disarmament obligations agreed to at the 1995 and 2000 Review Conferences of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,
– having regard to the Conclusions of the External Relations Council of 31 January 2006,
– having regard to the declaration of the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran of 1 February 2006,
– having regard to the resolution adopted by the IAEA Board of Governors on 4 February 2006,
– having regard to Rule 103(2) of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas in the conflict which has arisen over Iran's nuclear ambitions the E3/EU, in an attempt at de-escalation, offered Iran a package of trade concessions and nuclear supply guarantees on condition that Iran renounced its demand to control the full nuclear cycle, and whereas, on 9 August 2005, Iran rejected that offer as insufficient on the grounds that its former experiences of supplies being withheld necessitated nuclear independence,
B. whereas Iran resumed uranium conversion activities at its Isfahan facility on 8 August 2005 and took steps to resume enrichment activities on 10 January 2006,
C. whereas on 24 September 2005 the IAEA Board of Governors followed the position of the E3/USA and adopted by a majority a resolution on Iran stating 'that Iran’s many failures and breaches of its obligations to comply with its NPT Safeguards Agreement constitute non-compliance' with the NPT,
D. whereas the IAEA resolution of 4 February 2006 states the 'absence of confidence' in the peaceful purposes of Iran's nuclear programme and 'that Iran's full transparency is indispensable and overdue for the Agency to be able to clarify outstanding issues', which was supported by 27 member countries, including all veto-wielding members of the Security Council, with 3 votes against and 5 abstentions,
E. whereas, however, the same resolution also recalls the 'inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination' (Article 4 of the NPT) and whereas nuclear enrichment activities are not in breach of the NPT,
F. whereas, due to the flaws in the international non-proliferation system, it was impossible to prevent India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea from developing a nuclear weapons capacity and whereas the EU should develop strategies to overcome its dependency on fossil and nuclear energy,
1. Expresses its deep concern over the escalation of the nuclear conflict with Iran, and condemns notably President Ahmadinejad's threatening remarks against Israel, which are not conducive to trust in the intentions of the Iranian Government to adopt a peaceful and constructive role in the Middle East;
2. Notes that, in its resolution of 4 February 2006, the IAEA Board of Governors decided to report Iran to the Security Council with a list of conditions, notably the suspension of all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, to be met by Iran;
3. Notes the repeated confirmation by various representatives of the Iranian Government, including President Ahmadinejad, that nuclear weapons do not form part of Iran's defence aspirations and that the Iranian state has no intention of developing any nuclear weapons capacities;
4. Strongly criticises President Ahmadinejad's recent meeting with representatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad during his trip to Syria and demands that Iran immediately cease all its support for terrorist groups;
5. Welcomes the Board's resolve that the path to a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue should remain open and underlines how important it is for the IAEA inspectors to be able to continue their work in Iran;
6. Calls on all parties concerned to use the remaining time until the next IAEA Board meeting on 6 March to find a negotiated solution which takes account of the security concerns of the different sides;
7. Urges the Iranian Government and Parliament to adopt a constructive attitude towards the confidence-building measures requested by the IAEA; welcomes Iran's announcement that it wishes to continue negotiations and appeals to Iran to allow IAEA inspections to continue unimpeded;
8. Reiterates its strong opposition to the use of nuclear energy for civil as well as for military purposes, underlines the impossibility of drawing clear lines between the use of nuclear technology for civil or military ends and stresses that the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions clearly demonstrates the negative consequences of the misguided world policy on nuclear energy, promoted under the auspices of the IAEA;
9. Calls on Iran to take advantage of its enormous energy reserves and the technological know-how which exists in the country in order to invest in the development of renewable energies and the modern and rational use of fossil energies, instead of pursuing the use of costly, unsafe and outdated nuclear energy;
10. Underlines that opting for non-nuclear energy supplies creates more safety and security for citizens in Iran and abroad;
11. Urges the Iranian Government, in the interests of de-escalation, to seriously consider the Russian proposal allowing for joint-venture uranium enrichment on Russian soil, potentially including China, and calls on the European Union to support proposals such as that of the UN High-Level Panel of Experts to achieve multilateral administration of uranium enrichment, for example for the Middle Eastern Region, with distribution placed under the control of the IAEA;
12. Reiterates the common agreement that there can be no military solution to this conflict and calls on all countries, notably the US and Israel, to abstain from any threat against the territorial integrity of Iran, and to unequivocally distance themselves from any pre-emptive strike; insists that the appropriate UN bodies are the sole bodies authorised to decide on the use of force;
13. Welcomes UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's statement that there is a need for negotiations even if the case of Iran is referred to the Security Council;
14. Welcomes the link which the IAEA resolution establishes between the Iranian issue and the objective of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East and calls on the EU and the US to present an all-encompassing peace strategy for the Middle East which takes account of the legitimate security concerns of both Israel and Iran, including security guarantees for both countries;
15. Insists that the European Union's negotiating position could be greatly enhanced if the Member States concerned offered serious measures for the eventual phasing-out of their nuclear arsenals and for phasing out nuclear power plants;
16. Deeply regrets that all attempts in the year 2005 to achieve progress in nuclear disarmament, the NPT revision and the UN reform summit utterly failed and underlines that the Nuclear Weapons States, signatories of the NPT, are in breach of their obligations to disarm under the NPT;
17. Strongly regrets President Chirac's recent declaration describing France's nuclear force as proof of the country's superior capacities ('the very image of what our country is capable of producing when it has set itself a task and holds to it') and warning that it could be used 'against leaders of states who would use terrorist means', thereby giving further incentives to countries to acquire a nuclear bomb;
18. Severely condemns plans by the UK Government to modernise its Trident missile submarines and the earlier decision by the French Government to replace its current M-45 nuclear missile with the new M-51 model by 2010 in order to enhance its nuclear 'Force de frappe' and calls on the European Council to present a joint action on concrete steps showing how the members of the European Union plan to fulfil their NPT obligations to disarm;
19. Continues to be strongly concerned about the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, notably denial of freedom of opinion, arbitrary arrests, forced confessions, torture and the death penalty, and reiterates its demand for the release of all political prisoners, including Akbar Ganji and Abdolfattah Soltani; urges Iran to promptly resume the human rights dialogue;
20. Condemns the recent violation of workers' rights, some five hundred Tehran bus workers still being detained without charge or trial after the Union of Workers of the Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company called for a strike on 28 January, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release;
21. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Director General of the IAEA.