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August 4, 2015 Special Dispatch No. 6123

Pakistani Islamist Urdu Daily: 'There Is No Justification For Stopping Any Muslim Country From Making Nuclear Weapons And Becoming A Nuclear Power'

August 4, 2015
Special Dispatch No. 6123

Following are excerpts from the editorial of the Pakistani Urdu newspaper Roznama Jasarat, an Islamist daily affiliated with Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, on the July 14, 2015 Iran nuclear deal.[1]

"At last... Iran and the six world powers have agreed on a nuclear accord. According to the agreement reached in Vienna after 13 years, Iran will not be able to make nuclear weapons. However, it will have permission to acquire nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

"The entire international fraternity, including Pakistan, has welcomed this agreement. But Israel, as expected, has opposed it. The reason for its opposition is that it does not want to see any Muslim country becoming powerful.

"Therefore, [Israel] first attacked Iraq's nuclear installations and then, through America, it destroyed Iraq to the point that fire is still raging there. The Iran-Iraq war [in the 1980s] was started under a conspiracy, in which both Muslim countries suffered. As far as the Vienna agreement is concerned, Iran will benefit from the lifting of the economic sanctions imposed by America. But restrictions on the purchase of weapons will continue for another five years.

"Due to American threats, other countries were also avoiding economic ties with Iran. They will have permission now to conduct them. The Pakistan-Iran gas supply project has been hanging in the air for several years. It has not only been signed, but there is a provision of imposing fines on Pakistan in case of a delay. Pakistani rulers did not act upon the agreement in fear of America. However, now, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that work can begin on Pakistan-Iran gas pipeline project in September.

"It is true that Iran will derive huge benefits from the Vienna agreement, but our [Roznama Jasarat's] stance remains that there is no justification for stopping any Muslim country from making nuclear weapons and becoming a nuclear power.

"There are seven nuclear countries in the world. Apart from those, there are certain countries which have nuclear capabilities but have not declared it, and Israel is among them. Whereas in the Islamic world, Pakistan is the only nuclear country.

"Apart from that, either Christian countries or the Hindu state Bharat [i.e. India, have nuclear weapons]. The countries which have become nuclear powers are striving for no other country, especially a Muslim country, to obtain this power.

"Pakistan, undergoing difficulties and ignoring American and European threats, attained nuclear power. If Iran had wanted to acquire this capability, there was no justification for the powers that have the monopoly [on nuclear technology] to impose sanctions [on Iran]."

 

Endnote:

[1] Roznama Jasarat (Pakistan), July 16, 2015.

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