German politician slams 'illegal' sanctions against Iran

Berlin, Oct 23, IRNA -- A German politican of opposition Greeen party here Friday lashed out at western sanctions imposed against Iran over its nuclear program, branding them as 'illegal.'

Talking at a question-and-answer session during a one-day NATO conference in the German parliament, Karl-Wilhlem Koch stressed 'all sanctions (against Iran) were 'illegal' as long as there was 'no smoking gun' which would prove that Tehran was diverting its nuclear program for non-civilian purposes.

Koch who is a senior Green official in the southwest German state of Rhineland-Palatinate reiterated that Tehran was 'not verifiably violating the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty).'

Meanwhile, the politician slammed his country for 'clearly violating' the NPT by storing American nuclear weapons on German soil.
He also accused the US of breaching the NPT as a result of its controversial atomic deal with India by transferring its civilian know-how and technology to the emerging Asian powerhouse.

The US had arm-twisted nuclear-exporting countries to give green light for the disputed trade with India after reaching consensus on an export waiver for the Asian country.

New Delhi is able to access global nuclear markets for its rapidly widening atomic energy program, despite the fact that it has not signed the NPT.

Critics of the US-India nuclear agreement have warned that New Delhi could misuse the import of foreign nuclear technology to expand its own arsenal of atomic weapons./end