President Ahmadinejad of Iran expresses the feelings of the nuclear ‘have nots’

He is not alone in seeing the old nuclear powers as an arrogant club who believe they have the right to rule…….As the US presses for sanctions against Iran, President Ahmadinejad has come to stir up charges of hypocrisy and double standards

An unlikely anti-nuclear campaigner? BBC, Mark Mardell , 3 May 2010 President Ahmadinejad of Iran says nuclear weapons are “disgusting and shameful”, a danger to the countries that have them.We have to assume this is an indirect denial that he is on the verge of developing such a weapon. Or perhaps having a kit of parts isn’t quite as disgusting.

Anyway, he revels in tweaking the tail of his reluctant hosts, the United States.

He is the only head of state who has turned up for the first day of this month-long conference on nuclear non-proliferation at the UN in New York.

That in itself is seen by some as barefaced cheek when the West believes his country is trying to make a nuclear weapon.

When the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said he was unable to confirm that all Iranian nuclear material was used in peaceful activities, Mr Ahmadinejad grinned broadly.

His speech – or perhaps I mean lecture – was pure theatre. Studded with pious references, it was a stern warning about the evils of nuclear weapons.

He didn’t directly say Iran wasn’t developing them, just that they were terrible……

The Germans, French, British and Americans walked out.

But perhaps many other countries here will have some sympathy with his approach.

He is not alone in seeing the old nuclear powers as an arrogant club who believe they have the right to rule…….As the US presses for sanctions against Iran, President Ahmadinejad has come to stir up charges of hypocrisy and double standards. BBC – Mark Mardell’s America: An unlikely anti-nuclear campaigner?