Picture of an atmospheric nuclear test in French Polynesia, August 1971. Kodachrome color slide scan from an Instamatic camera.
From Reuters/AP:
TEHRAN, Iran - More than 100 nonaligned nations backed Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear power on Wednesday, an endorsement sought by Tehran in its standoff with the U.N. Security Council over its refusal to freeze uranium enrichment.
The decision came as supreme Iranian leader Ayatolla Ali Khamenei pledged to continue the country's nuclear program.
Senior Iranian officials depicted the support from a high-level conference of the Nonaligned Movement as deflating claims by the U.S. and its allies that most of the international community wanted Iran to stop enrichment.
The conference's backing, which echoes the group's previous declarations, acts to "remove this notion that the international community opposes the nuclear activities of Iran," said Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Read more ....
More News On Nonaligned Countries Supporting Iran
Non-aligned nations support nuclear right -- Chicago Tribune
NAM meeting winds up in Tehran -- Economic Times
Non-aligned nations back Iran's N-cause -- NDTV
Despite Calls to Halt, Iran Says It Will Continue Its Nuclear Program -- New York Times
Iran FM Rejects Deadline for Nuclear Incentive Package -- Voice Of America
My Comment: Deep in the heart of every poor and destitute third world nation is a belief that a nuclear weapon will enhance their society and its role in the world community. Yup .... everyone wants a nuclear program.
The big divide between countries that have a nuclear program and those countries that do not are amplified by their political cultures. Western, Russian, and Asian societies with a long history of warfare, societal destruction, and ethnic genocide, have a tremendous appreciation and respect on the destructive elements that a nuclear arsenal can entail. They know what total war is and what it's results can be.
In countries that do not have this political culture and historical background but have a desire for a nuclear program are approaching this issue from a completely different perspective. Countries like Iran, India, Pakistan, Venezuela, Cuba, and the non-aligned movement have all experienced in some degree of warfare .... but nothing in comparison to what Western, Russian, and Chinese/Korean/Japanese cultures have endured.
It is fortunate that for most of these countries they do not have the political will, economics, and intellectual resources to fulfill such a program. But this will not stop them from supporting others who are trying.