The investigation into allegations that India's votes at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2005 and 2006 were coerced by America has been intensified with pressure building on the man at the centre of the scandal to break his silence. Stephen Rademaker, the former ranking official of the Bush administration, reportedly told an audience last month that coercion had been used to persuade India to vote against Iran. He has today been approached by investigators looking into the situation surrounding India’s votes and whether other IAEA members were subject to similar coercion.

Mr Rademaker, who now works for the Washington lobbying firm Barbour, Griffith and Rogers, was the former Assistant Secretary for Non-proliferation and International Security at the U.S. State Department. Whilst giving a speech at a security think-tank in India on 15th February 2006 he reportedly said, referring to India’s changing attitude towards non-proliferation; "[t]he best illustration of this is the two votes India cast against Iran at the IAEA. I am the first person to admit that the votes were coerced."

His words were widely reported by journalists who were present and have not been refuted by any of those who attended the meeting including Mr Narendra Sisodia, head of Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses where the speech was made. Despite being pressed, the US State Department, the Indian Government and the IAEA have failed to confirm or deny the truth of what Mr Rademaker said.

The questions raise important issues about the independence of the IAEA and the legitimacy of Iran’s referral to the UN Security Council and the subsequent passing of
Resolutions 1737 and 1747. It is not disputed that in 2005, the US and the UK concentrated their efforts in the Governors' Board of the IAEA to first condemn Iran for not meeting its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and then to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. In January 2006, Ambassador to India, David Mulford, openly warned that a deal giving India US nuclear technology could collapse if India did not back the UN motion against Iran.

Professor Abbas Edalat of the Campaign Against sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) said today:

"This is a matter of global significance and we demand that Mr Radmaker, the US State Department and the Indian government come clean about just what happened before and during those IAEA votes. If the US coerced India into voting against Iran, it brings into question the entire legitimacy of the decision by the Governors' Board of the IAEA to refer Iran to the Security Council and the consequent passing of Resolutions 1696, 1737 and most recently 1747. It also casts doubt over the legitimacy of any future resolutions against Iran the UN might pass. The public need to know whether other members of he Governors' Board of the IAEA were coerced by the US to politicise Iran's nuclear file, refer it to the UN Security Council. The fact of the matter is that Iran has not breached any of its obligations under the Non Proliferation Treaty and therefore its referral to the UN has no legitimacy.

“As in the run-up top the invasion of Iraq, UN resolutions are being used to give a veneer of legitimacy and provide a pretext for an illegal US pre-emptive strike against Iran. In Iraq, the invasion was ordered “in support of UN authority”. The same justification is likely to be used by the Bush administration for strikes on Iran. We are demand an immediate high level investigation to the use of coercion by the US and its allies within the IAEA."

Notes:
Mr Rademaker was appointed acting assistant secretary for disarmament in the
State Department. He quit the State Department earlier this year and is now a
paid lobbyist of the Indian government in Washington.
The story has been reported extensively in the Hindu and the Times of India
 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/16/stories/2007021605671200.htm
 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/17/stories/2007021709121400.htm

Notes:

Mr Rademaker was appointed acting assistant secretary for disarmament in the State Department. He quit the State Department earlier this year and is now a paid lobbyist of the Indian government in Washington.

The story has been reported extensively in the Hindu and the Times of India
 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/16/stories/2007021605671200.htm
 http://www.hindu.com/2007/02/17/stories/2007021709121400.htm
 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India_coerced_into_voting_against_Iran/articleshow/1630182.cms

Ambassador Mulfords statements of January 2006 are reported by the BBC
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4649742.stm


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