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UN chief sees disarmament 'window of opportunity'

China got Taiwan firm to sell nuke parts to Iran: report
Taipei (AFP) Jan 9, 2010 - A Taiwanese firm allegedly sold equipment that can be used to make nuclear weapons to Iran under a request from China, a Taipei-based magazine said. The firm received an online order from China last year to buy pressure transducers on behalf of an Iranian oil company for pipeline construction, Next Magazine reported this week. The firm later shipped 108 pressure transducers it had acquired from a Swiss firm to Iran as exporting the items was not illegal in Switzerland or Taiwan, the report said, citing a Taiwanese trade official. China, despite claiming its unwillingness to provide Iran with sensitive technology, has "secretly shipped critical components" to the country through Taiwanese firms, the report quoted an unnamed source as saying. The magazine did not identify any of the companies allegedly involved.

The deal raised concerns in the US, which urged the Taiwanese government to eradicate the "smuggling network" in order not to violate international sanctions against Iran, it said. Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade has said the device is not restricted but has nevertheless placed the company on a watch list. Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper said last month Iran's defence officials met Taiwanese firms to buy hundreds of pressure transducers that can be used to make weapons-grade uranium. The paper said Iran had tried unsuccessfully to buy the equipment for more than a year from European and American firms before turning to a Taiwanese company. UN officials are investigating whether the European companies conducted proper checks of end-user certificates for the equipment, it said. The international community has warned Iran to stop construction of its second uranium enrichment plant, wary that it is trying to develop a nuclear bomb. Iran rejects the charge and says it wants to build a civil energy programme.
by Staff Writers
United Nations (AFP) Jan 8, 2010
UN chief Ban Ki-moon Friday hailed what he called a "new window of opportunity" in disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation as he met heads of UN agencies tackling the issues.

"Today there is a new window of opportunity in disarmament and non-proliferation," he told the meeting. "I am convinced there is much we can do to achieve our common goal of a world free of weapons of mass destruction."

Ban vowed that disarmament and non-proliferation would continue to be among his top priorities in the months ahead.

"I pledge to continue to do everything in my power to advance the goal of a world free of weapons of mass destruction."

He particularly called for a successful outcome to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference here in May.

"A successful outcome would strengthen confidence not only in the treaty but also for the collective global effort to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons," he noted.

The previous NPT review conference in May 2005 ended in disarray, with no agreement from the participants.

Review conferences have been held every five years since the treaty was ratified in 1970. There are currently 189 signatory countries to the treaty.

Ban said he would also attend the Global Zero summit in Paris February 2-4 and the Munich Security Conference February 5-7.

The Global Zero meeting will bring together more than 200 political and military leaders dedicated to the phased, verified elimination of all nuclear weapons.

The annual Munich conference is the most important independent forum for exchange of views by international security policy decision-makers.

The UN secretary general said he also planned to attend a summit on nuclear security in Washington in April.

He met here Friday with the new head of the Vienna-based UN International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano of Japan; the chief of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons based in The Hague, Rogelio Pfirter of Argentina, and the executive secretary of the Vienna-based Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, Tibot Toth of Hungary.



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