U.S. Lambastes Iran, N. Korea at U.N. Meeting

UNITED NATIONS — At a key U.N. disarmament conference Monday, the U.S. lashed out at Iran and North Korea for their purported pursuit of atomic weapons and demanded that Iran dismantle its uranium enrichment facilities.

But Iran said that it had an "inalienable right" to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and that it might restart its once-secret nuclear energy program. The entrenched conflicts may set the conference up for failure, diplomats said.

At the opening of a monthlong review of the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, U.S. negotiator Stephen Rademaker said the world must make sure that countries such as North Korea and Iran cannot exploit loopholes in the treaty to divert civilian energy programs into illegal weapons facilities.

"Some countries, such as Iran, are seeking these facilities, either secretly or with explanations that cannot withstand scrutiny. We dare not look the other way," he said.

Iran's announcement Saturday that it was likely to resume its activities related to uranium enrichment, and North Korea's reported weekend test launch of a missile over the Sea of Japan, have added to the tensions surrounding this year's conference.

Rademaker reiterated seven steps President Bush had proposed last year to stop the spread of nuclear weapons through underground networks, including efforts to intercept the shipment of illegal weapons materials.

The United States also urged that states like Iran that don't comply with the treaty be denied the technology guaranteed under it. Countries such as North Korea that withdrew from the treaty should be sanctioned, Rademaker said.

He also described efforts by the U.S. to reduce its own nuclear arsenal under the treaty, after attacks from developing countries that the nuclear powers -- especially the U.S. and Russia -- had not done enough to eliminate weapons stockpiles.

The 35-year old treaty requires more than 180 states to renounce nuclear ambitions and for the five major nuclear powers -- the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain -- to eventually eliminate their nuclear arms. Under the 2002 Moscow Treaty, the U.S. and Russia are to reduce their warheads by two-thirds by 2012. India, Pakistan and probably Israel also have nuclear capability, but have not signed the treaty.