UN Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear policy would be "premature", Dr Hans Blix told the Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs at Leinster House yesterday.
Dr Blix, who came to international prominence in his role as chief UN weapons inspector in Iraq, also said that telling the Iranians to "behave themselves" reflected a neo-colonialist attitude.
He praised the European approach of telling the Iranians they could have nuclear fuel if they wanted it. However, he was critical of the demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment programme as a precondition to negotiations. This was tantamount to asking Iran to "toss away your trump card" before sitting down at the table. He felt sure Iran's nuclear policy was not motivated primarily by security considerations as the country was not threatened by neighbours such as Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan and "despite the rhetoric", Iran was not taking any steps towards a clash with Israel.
Formerly Sweden's foreign minister and director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr Blix now chairs the Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, an independent, international body based in Stockholm which recently produced a report entitled, Weapons of Terror: How to Free the World of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Arms.
Praising this country as a "persistent and active champion of arms control and disarmament", Dr Blix said Ireland's efforts were needed more than ever. "Ireland was instrumental in the conclusion in 1968 of the treaty against the further spread of nuclear weapons - the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The treaty, which remains central in today's discussion, is in several respects a success, but it is also today under strain," he said.
Three states - India, Israel and Pakistan - had never subscribed to the treaty.
"In areas of tension they have developed and piled up nuclear weapons.
"Despite the treaty and despite reductions in nuclear arsenals, there are still some 27,000 nuclear warheads in the world and thousands of them remain on hair-trigger alert."
Dr Blix addresses the Forum on Europe on EU nuclear weapons policy at Dublin's Westin Hotel tomorrow at 11am.