Iranian Security Chief: West Hypocritical For Nuclear Criticism

Iran's state-run Press TV quotes Saeed Jalili, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, after Iran tested missiles on Sunday:

"The West takes no action on disarmament while countries that possess nuclear weapons threaten the world. According to Article VI of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, all the nuclear-weapon-states should draw up a roadmap toward fulfilling their disarmament obligations," Jalili said.

Article VI of the 1968 UN Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) states:

Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

Whether the U.S. is working toward complete disarmament can be debated. President Obama said in Prague in April that he wants to live in a world where no nuclear weapons exist; he succeeded in passing a nonproliferation resolution as he chaired a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York last week; it's one of his pet international issues. At the same time, there's a discussion within the administration and the Defense Department about what to do with old American nukes that need to be replaced, modified, or maybe even improved for tactical superiority.

Iran's complaint, after the revelation of its previously undisclosed enrichment plant and the test of missiles that could hit Tel Aviv, is about casting first stones. But at least the U.S. is working toward a non-proliferation agreement with Russia this December--something that's exactly what Article VI recommends.