While world issues were center stage this week in the United States, with leaders gathering in New York and Pittsburgh for two important meetings to discuss a host of global problems, it’s likely the only thing anyone will remember is the announcement that came Friday morning: that Iran has a second, secret nuclear facility under development.
Speaking in Pittsburgh where they were attending the Group of Twenty (G-20) Meeting, President Obama, England’s Gordon Brown and France’s Nicolas Sarkozy accused Iran of hiding a secret uranium enrichment facility from inspectors and demanded that they allow inspectors in to see the plant.
The news conference came days after Iran revealed to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors nuclear activity for the world, that it has a second pilot plant under construction.
Iran already in the hot seat
The revelations and accusations capped a week of strong warnings to Iran on its nuclear development activities. At the UN meeting in New York, the National Security Council voted unanimously in support of a resolution for a “world without nuclear weapons” put forth by President Obama. Basically the resolution strengthens the existing Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which prohibits countries who don't already have nuclear weapons from possessing them.
And while it didn’t call out Iran or North Korea directly, it was largely aimed at them.
Additionally, leaders from the world's eight largest economies gave Iran three months to stop building out its uranium enrichment program or face more sanctions. Even Russia—who has been loathe to endorse sanctions heretofore—signaled this week they would back them if necessary. The hold out? China, which has veto power to oppose such measures.
Other takeaways from the UN meeting
Aside from the protests outside the meeting and the rants from Libya’s Qadafi and Iran’s Ahmadinejhad, climate change got a lot of air time at the meeting. Speech after speech mentioned the need for action on climate change, but analysts felt the rhetoric was short on concrete proposals and worried about the likelihood for progress at a more important climate meeting in Copenhagen in December. For 10 days UN members will meet in Denmark to attempt to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. The Kyoto Protocol is the existing international agreement to curb global warming, which the U.S. signed but never ratified (giving it little importance). Hopes were high that major proposals would be unveiled in New York ahead of the Copenhagen meeting.
What else to watch for at the G-20
While the Iran news may steal the thunder of the G-20 meeting, the focus is meant to be on world economic stability. Basically the leaders need to determine if they'll keep pumping money into their respective economies or not, and exactly how to ease up on those stimulus efforts without putting the global economy in free-fall. Since banks run amok is what put the world in this financial crisis, you can expect talks on reining in risk: more financial regulation, a global watchdog group, and executive pay caps.
The big picture
After years of trying to get Iran to be more forthcoming about its nuclear ambitions, the latest news will likely provide the basis for a stronger global inquiry, with the wildcard being China's support. Iran is scheduled to meet with leaders from the U.S., China, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Russia on October 1 to discuss their nuclear program, which Iran all along has said it’s building to generate power. Clearly the disclosure of a second plant will heighten the intensity of these talks.
