Saudis Get a Nuclear Free Pass
Charles Johnson
Thu Jun 16, 2005 at 9:50 am PDT • Views: 229
The blind, toothless nuclear “watchdog” known as the IAEA has signed off on a deal allowing Saudi Arabia to be exempt from nuclear inspections. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Board members of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency approved a deal Thursday that exempts Saudi Arabia from nuclear inspections, despite serious misgivings about the arrangement in an era of heightened proliferation fears.
Although the Saudis resisted Western pressure to compromise and allow some form of monitoring, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency had no choice but to allow it to sign on to the agreement.
Called the small quantities protocol, the deal allows countries whose nuclear equipment or activities are thought to be below a minimum threshold to submit a declaration instead of undergoing inspection.
There is little concern the Saudis are trying to make nuclear arms, but diplomats accredited to the meeting said Riyadh’s resistance to inspections - and any new deals limiting the IAEA’s powers to investigate - were disconcerting at a time of increased fears countries or terrorists might be interested in acquiring such weapons.
Frank says: