Annan urges nations away from nuclear temptation

AT A time of growing nuclear tensions in the world, UN secretary general Kofi Annan yesterday urged non-weapons states like Iran to step back from the nuclear temptation.

He also urged the US and Russia to cut back more sharply on their arsenals.

All must work toward "a world of reduced nuclear threat and, ultimately, a world free of nuclear weapons", he said as he opened a month-long conference reviewing how well the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) is keeping the lid on man's most terrible weapons.

The delegations from almost 190 governments have gathered at a moment of mounting nuclear fears and mistrust.

North Korea, which declared its withdrawal from the treaty in 2003 and claims to have built nuclear bombs, said this weekend it was giving up negotiating over its weapons programme with a George Bush-led US.

It was another blow to the suspended six-party talks aimed at bringing Pyongyang back into the NPT.

Iran, meanwhile, said it will probably restart operations this week related to its disputed uranium enrichment programme, which Washington contends is a cover for nuclear weapons plans.

The "nuclear fuel cycle" is key to suspicions about Iran's intentions. The NPT's Article IV guarantees non-weapons states the right to peaceful nuclear technology, including uranium enrichment equipment to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. But that same technology, with further enrichment, can produce material for nuclear bombs.

Mr Annan said states such as Iran "must not insist" on obtaining such sensitive technology domestically, but should have international access to nuclear fuel.

Meanwhile, "a first step would be to expedite agreement to create incentives for states to voluntarily forego the development of fuel-cycle facilities," the UN chief said.

In fact, the Tehran government is in talks with European negotiators about shutting down its enrichment operations in return for economic incentives.