§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What limitations they see to the rights of non-weapons power signatories to the civil use of nuclear energy, which are enshrined in Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty as "inalienable", and whether they believe that Russia should not be completing a nuclear power station under IAEA safeguards for Iran.
§ Baroness Chalker of Wallasey:Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognises the rights of all states parties to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. But it also provides that they should be in conformity with their obligations under Article I and II of the treaty concerning the transfer or acquisition of nuclear weapons. Article III of the treaty also includes a commitment by non-nuclear-weapon states to accept International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards to prevent diversion of nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons. We are concerned about the potential proliferation risk of Russian plans to provide nuclear technology and equipment to Iran because of reports that Iran may have a nuclear weapons development programme.