Chomsky: EU ignored Iran commitments

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 14:01:03

The prominent US analyst, Noam Chomsky

Prominent US analyst Noam Chomsky has criticized the EU for ignoring its commitments to Iran regarding the country's nuclear program.

In an interview with the political website of Information Clearing House, Chomsky said, “Just a couple of years ago, from 2004 through 2006, Iran did agree to suspend all uranium enrichment activities; thus halting what everyone agrees they're legally entitled to. That was an agreement with the European Union."

"In return to their agreement to suspension of their uranium enrichment program, the European Union was to provide what were called full guarantees on security issues, which means getting the United States to call off its threats to attack and destroy Iran."

Chomsky added that the EU failed to live up to its obligations so Iran pulled out of the agreement and returned to uranium enrichment. But Iranians were accused of breaking the agreement.

"ElBaradei had proposed a couple of years ago that no states should develop weapons-grade materials: all high enrichment should be done by an international agency, maybe the IAEA or some other entity, and then countries should apply to it. There's only one country that formally agreed to ElBaradei's proposal. That was Iran," Chomsky added.

"The real reason for the US intransigence on Iran is that Tehran has refused to play the role of a US-client state," he added.

Noam Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at MIT. He is the author of over 30 political books dissecting and severely condemning US interventionism in the developing world.

AR/GM/BGH