BBC: Iran’s nuclear ambitions are putting the world at risk, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.
BBC News
Iran’s nuclear ambitions are putting the world at risk, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.
She told delegates at a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference at the UN that Iran should be held to account.
Earlier, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran accused states with nuclear weapons of threatening those who want to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
His speech triggered a walk-out by representatives of the US, UK and France.
Mrs Clinton also said the US will disclose the number of weapons in its nuclear arsenal, a closely guarded secret for more than half a century.
She said the move was to improve transparency in the nuclear disarmament regime and encourage other nations to comply with it.
“Beginning today, the United States will make public the number of nuclear weapons in our stockpile and the number of weapons we have dismantled since 1991,” she said.
“So for those who doubt that the United States will do its part on disarmament, this is our record, these are our commitments and they send a clear unmistakable signal.”
Shortly afterwards, the US Defense Department revealed the US has a total of 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile.
Throughout her speech Mrs Clinton regularly rounded on Iran, accusing President Ahmadinejad of offering the same “tired, false and sometimes wild accusations” against the US and others.
“Iran will do whatever it can to divert attention away from its own record in an attempt to evade accountability,” she said.
The permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany are discussing further sanctions against Iran for refusing to stop enriching uranium, which can be used in making nuclear bombs.
Tehran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
