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American Morning
Is Iran Poised to Become Next Nuclear Power?
Aired August 07, 2003 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is Iran poised to become the next nuclear power? The Tehran government says it won't give up its nuclear power program, but has no plans to build nuclear weapons. That flies in the face of a Japanese newspaper report which said Iran and North Korea are talking about a deal to jointly develop nuclear warheads.
What impact, if any, could this have on multilateral talks involving the U.S. and North Korea?
Joining us now, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
He is in Sante Fe this morning.
Good morning to you, Mr. Governor.
Thanks for being with us.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: What do you make of this report?
RICHARDSON: Well, I don't attach that much credibility to it. It could have been put out by the North Koreans, who right now are boosting their status internationally because they're going to engage in multilateral talks that involve the U.S. It's a way to get leverage in future negotiations.
You hear about these reports constantly. I do think, though, that North Koreans, unless the United States and others work in agreement with them, will start dealing with other countries in some of these weapons of mass destruction. So it is important that we reach an agreement with the North Koreans either bilaterally or multilaterally.
COLLINS: Would the U.S. know if, indeed, some of those deals were going on with other countries?
RICHARDSON: It's very hard to tell. We have very good intelligence. But this involves substantial aerial surveillance. It involves (AUDIO GAP) human intelligence. You just hear these reports and the reports are of concern. You investigate the reports. But I think it would be very hard at this point to know that an actual deal is happening. For instance, over the years there's always been a suspicion that Russia and Iran have had a nuclear connection. It's only until recently, after the president of Russia basically confirmed it, that you know this is the case.
So these are reports, not necessarily intelligence decisions that have been reached by our people that they are happening.
COLLINS: Governor Richardson, what sort of leverage do you think the U.S. has, though, in trying to make the North Koreans actually stop the sale of missiles altogether?
RICHARDSON: North Korea is in bad financial condition. Its nuclear energy, its energy resources are not working. We can help North Korea with multilateral assistance, with economic assistance, with food. That's the leverage we have over them. We're also superior militarily and I believe deep down North Korea does want to have an arrangement with the United States.
So the leverage is that North Korea wants to be a major power. Only the United States can give it that role by negotiating directly. I think a diplomatic deal is possible. The Bush administration, I think, is correct in pursuing the multilateral talks. And then eventually I think they're going to have to do bilateral talks.
But, again, this is an issue that we have got to deal with, North Korea's nuclear ambitions. We can't put it in the back burner. We've got to move off of Iraq and Middle East and other important issues and frontally deal with North Korea. And I think Secretary Powell is doing exactly that.
COLLINS: What about this non-aggression pact, though? The North Koreans have wanted that from the U.S. for quite some time. Will the U.S. agree to that if the North Koreans agree to dismantle their nuclear weapons program?
RICHARDSON: In my opinion, that's the basis for a deal, some kind of agreement that the United States will not attack North Korea. Non-aggression pacts went out in the '60s, so I don't think that is doable. I think some kind of certification by the United States Senate in an executive agreement between the U.S. and North Korea.
In exchange, though, North Korea will have to fully dismantle any kind of nuclear processing, nuclear proliferation, sales to third countries like Iran, if it is happening. That is the basis of a deal.
Part of that also, Heidi, will be the U.S. providing -- and other countries, Japan, South Korea -- economic assistance, food assistance. The country is -- North Korea is in very desperate economic shape -- rice, simple medicines.
So I do think eventually what you outlined, some kind of agreement that the U.S. will not attack in exchange for a dismantling of its nuclear arsenal is the basis of a deal, but it's going to be down the road. It's going to take some time. Right now the multilateral negotiations are going to happen in Beijing, China, where China is playing a major role.
COLLINS: Right.
RICHARDSON: It's going to, I believe, eventually set up those negotiations.
COLLINS: All right, we will have to wait to hear what the outcome is of those multilateral talks.
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, always nice to see you.
Thanks so much for your time.
RICHARDSON: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired August 7, 2003 - 08:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Is Iran poised to become the next nuclear power? The Tehran government says it won't give up its nuclear power program, but has no plans to build nuclear weapons. That flies in the face of a Japanese newspaper report which said Iran and North Korea are talking about a deal to jointly develop nuclear warheads.
What impact, if any, could this have on multilateral talks involving the U.S. and North Korea?
Joining us now, a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
He is in Sante Fe this morning.
Good morning to you, Mr. Governor.
Thanks for being with us.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO U.N.: Good morning, Heidi.
COLLINS: What do you make of this report?
RICHARDSON: Well, I don't attach that much credibility to it. It could have been put out by the North Koreans, who right now are boosting their status internationally because they're going to engage in multilateral talks that involve the U.S. It's a way to get leverage in future negotiations.
You hear about these reports constantly. I do think, though, that North Koreans, unless the United States and others work in agreement with them, will start dealing with other countries in some of these weapons of mass destruction. So it is important that we reach an agreement with the North Koreans either bilaterally or multilaterally.
COLLINS: Would the U.S. know if, indeed, some of those deals were going on with other countries?
RICHARDSON: It's very hard to tell. We have very good intelligence. But this involves substantial aerial surveillance. It involves (AUDIO GAP) human intelligence. You just hear these reports and the reports are of concern. You investigate the reports. But I think it would be very hard at this point to know that an actual deal is happening. For instance, over the years there's always been a suspicion that Russia and Iran have had a nuclear connection. It's only until recently, after the president of Russia basically confirmed it, that you know this is the case.
So these are reports, not necessarily intelligence decisions that have been reached by our people that they are happening.
COLLINS: Governor Richardson, what sort of leverage do you think the U.S. has, though, in trying to make the North Koreans actually stop the sale of missiles altogether?
RICHARDSON: North Korea is in bad financial condition. Its nuclear energy, its energy resources are not working. We can help North Korea with multilateral assistance, with economic assistance, with food. That's the leverage we have over them. We're also superior militarily and I believe deep down North Korea does want to have an arrangement with the United States.
So the leverage is that North Korea wants to be a major power. Only the United States can give it that role by negotiating directly. I think a diplomatic deal is possible. The Bush administration, I think, is correct in pursuing the multilateral talks. And then eventually I think they're going to have to do bilateral talks.
But, again, this is an issue that we have got to deal with, North Korea's nuclear ambitions. We can't put it in the back burner. We've got to move off of Iraq and Middle East and other important issues and frontally deal with North Korea. And I think Secretary Powell is doing exactly that.
COLLINS: What about this non-aggression pact, though? The North Koreans have wanted that from the U.S. for quite some time. Will the U.S. agree to that if the North Koreans agree to dismantle their nuclear weapons program?
RICHARDSON: In my opinion, that's the basis for a deal, some kind of agreement that the United States will not attack North Korea. Non-aggression pacts went out in the '60s, so I don't think that is doable. I think some kind of certification by the United States Senate in an executive agreement between the U.S. and North Korea.
In exchange, though, North Korea will have to fully dismantle any kind of nuclear processing, nuclear proliferation, sales to third countries like Iran, if it is happening. That is the basis of a deal.
Part of that also, Heidi, will be the U.S. providing -- and other countries, Japan, South Korea -- economic assistance, food assistance. The country is -- North Korea is in very desperate economic shape -- rice, simple medicines.
So I do think eventually what you outlined, some kind of agreement that the U.S. will not attack in exchange for a dismantling of its nuclear arsenal is the basis of a deal, but it's going to be down the road. It's going to take some time. Right now the multilateral negotiations are going to happen in Beijing, China, where China is playing a major role.
COLLINS: Right.
RICHARDSON: It's going to, I believe, eventually set up those negotiations.
COLLINS: All right, we will have to wait to hear what the outcome is of those multilateral talks.
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico, always nice to see you.
Thanks so much for your time.
RICHARDSON: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
