Seanad debates

Thursday, 2 February 2012

Priorities in Foreign Affairs: Statements

 

4:00 pm

Photo of Kathryn ReillyKathryn Reilly (Sinn Fein)

Given that the US Secretary of Defence, Mr. Leon Panetta, has stated categorically that Iran is not building nuclear weapons or developing a nuclear programme, why did Ireland support the EU's move to ratchet up tensions by imposing sanctions on Iran via the oil boycott? In The Irish Times of 24 January the Tánaiste is attributed as having said:

Here we're dealing with an undisputed fact that Iran is militarising its nuclear set-up. There is no argument about the threat that that poses ...

Is that quote accurate and, if it is, on what grounds did the Tánaiste make that statement? What role is Ireland playing at EU level and bilaterally to encourage dialogue and to prevent the rhetoric of warmongering? On a broader level does he believe that Israel has nuclear weapons and, if so, if those weapons pose a threat to their neighbours in the region?

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