Published: September 18, 2005
Rice Urges U.N. Stand Up to Iran over Nuclear Weapons Development
Secretary of state says Security Council must act when diplomacy falters
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told delegates to the opening meeting of the United Nations General Assembly’s 60th session the organization must be prepared to stand up to Iran, which threatens Middle East peace by pursuing a nuclear weapons capability.
When diplomacy has been exhausted on Iran, "the Security Council must become involved," Rice said in her first address before the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on September 17.
"It must be able to deal with great challenges like terrorism and nuclear proliferation, especially when it faces real threats and when countries like Iran threaten the effectiveness of the global non-proliferation regime," she said.
Rice said that after agreeing to negotiate with Europe – specifically the EU3 consisting of Britain, France and Germany – Iran has unilaterally walked away from the talks and restarted its nuclear program.
"Iran should return to the negotiations with the EU3 – and abandon forever its plans for a nuclear weapons capability," she said.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency is to consider on September 19 whether to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for potential sanctions.
Rice told the assembled world leaders that experience has reinforced the universal truth that international institutions are only as strong, effective, and relevant as their members make them.
The first purpose of the United Nations, she said, is to help maintain international peace and security.
"In 1945, the most serious threats to peace and security emerged between states and were largely defined by their borders. Today, however, the greatest threats we face emerge within states and melt through their borders – transnational threats like terrorism, and weapons proliferation, pandemic disease and trafficking in human beings," Rice said.
Rice implored world leaders to support and promote "a lasting revolution of reform" of the United Nations.
"The U.N. Summit Declaration, which every head of state endorsed this week, expresses a global consensus that reform is imperative," she said. "Our challenge now … is to enact the vital reforms that will make the United Nations more accountable."
Rice said that for the United Nations to become an engine of change in the 21st century, it must now change itself.
"The United States welcomes the commitment of all leaders to establish a new Peace-Building Commission," which will help countries emerging from conflict establish effective reconstruction and government to serve their people after the fighting stops, Rice said.
The U.N. Summit Declaration also calls for the establishment of a Human Rights Council to eventually replace its Human Rights Commission, but that new entity must have fewer members, less politics and more credibility, she said.
Rice also told the General Assembly that the United States supports expanding the Security Council.
"We have long supported a permanent seat for Japan. And we believe that developing countries deserve greater representation on this body," she said.
Source: U.S. Department of State
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