Ex-Italian PM raps western double-standard on Iran's nuclear issue

Former Italian prime minister Giuliano Amato criticized western countries for their double-standards on dealing with Iran's nuclear program.

Speaking at an international security conference in Berlin on Thursday, Amato lashed out at the West for accepting India as a nuclear power but not Iran.

He said western arguments for supporting the Indian nuclear program, simply because the Asian country is a democracy, were "hardly acceptable."

"This is an argument which is not accepted in Iran. And there should be an argument which would be accepted by Iran because if the argument is not accepted in Iran, they will go on (with their nuclear program). This is my problem," Amato added.

Meanwhile, he urged nuclear power states to take the lead in global atomic disarmament.

"Let's be clear, as long as there will be nuclear powers, we will be powerlesss in convincing others that they cannot have nuclear weapons," Amato said.

"Why are we entitled to have them and others are not? Why does a ban exist for you and not for me? This is so obvious," he added.

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