Proliferation is not the problem, having nuclear weapons is: Pundit

Press TV has conducted an interview with Jan Oberg, founder of transnational.org, from Lund, to discuss the European Leadership Network’s (ELN) endorsement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Oberg talk to us about the recent endorsement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action by the think tank European Leadership Network (ELN). 

Oberg: I think it must be welcomed of course that a rather conservative think tank like this one, with a lot of former NATO leaders and people who are for military defense etc., welcomes this agreement and urges the US Congress to endorse it. That is of course part of the larger fear, I think, that exists basically everywhere in the world that the US Congress and its most conservative people would derail or say no to this deal; and of course … pressure by Israel and Saudi Arabia. So I think this should be welcomed. On the other hand, I think, they are making a gross mistake because they go for this idea in one of the formulations that this whole thing had to do with strengthening the non-proliferation regime. Now, we all know that the proliferation is not the problem in the world. The problem is that we have nuclear weapons, and I think I should say that, because we just passed the 70th anniversary of the nuclear age. Now, we seem to forget the main problem in the world and our survival issue is nuclear weapons and the proliferation is not a problem. Possession is the problem.

Press TV: Do you think that the US Congress, given the worldwide endorsements that the JCPOA has received, is treading a very delicate territory right now, because if it decides to reject the JCPOA, it’s basically going against the entire world?

Oberg: Yes. I don’t think that some of the extremists that were against this deal … - various countries and intellectuals and other politicians -would mind being the odd guys out. There is this saying of exceptionalist thinking in the US that ‘we can go against the rest of the world; that we can do as we please,’ but I think the administration, Obama, and Kerry etc. are bent on pushing it through anyhow and veto a non-endorsement. So, I’m not that concerned, but I’m concerned at another level namely that you have such political circles in the US who take such impressions of Israeli foreign policy … but who also do not and refuse to see how positive the agreement is for the whole world, and for Iran and its people and also for the United States itself. As leaders here in Europe also point out in the statement, this could be an opener for more cooperation, more economic exchange etc. that it’s a kind of  game breaker to have this deal, because if we all walk carefully, there is a good chance that Iran and the West and the rest of the world could get over the old problems, not that we love each other or they would love each other, but there is simply a positive post effect of this agreement because if the parties had walked away, we know that the consequences would have been bad feelings on all sides. It would have been more sanctions. It would have been a risk of war, etc. I am unable to understand why these people in the United States cannot see that this is a great kind of thing for everyone, a plus thing for modern democracy and diplomacy. And I would also say it’s a victory for non-violence, which is the thing that I work with…

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