Earlier this year, the Czech Republic considered lifting the five-year-old law banning Czech firms from providing deliveries to Iran's nuclear power plant as a gesture of goodwill. Foreign Affairs Minister Cyril Svoboda later nixed the idea.
In September, the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded that Iran is several years away from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
But assistance must be in line with EU policy, warn ministry officials
By Brandon Swanson
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
More than a year after Iran asked European Union countries for help with its civilian nuclear program at the United Nations General Assembly, it may have found an unlikely candidate in the Czech Republic.
Czech Industry and Trade Minister Milan Urban said he discussed aiding the civilian nuclear aims of Iran during trade talks in early December — a surprising announcement considering that tension between the two nations is so high that in 1998 each pulled its ambassador from the other's country.
"I was shocked," said Jana Hybášková, a Czech member of the European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee, recalling her reaction to Urban's comment.
Iran has been under heavy pressure from both the EU and the United States over its nuclear program, which Iran claims is only aimed at producing nuclear energy. The EU and the United States claim that Iran wants to create nuclear weapons.
While the Iranian state-run press reported Urban's "readiness to participate," Industry and Trade Ministry spokesman Ivo Mravinac said the minister's comments need clarification.
"There is a need to be very cautious in commenting on such issues," Mravinac said. The two sides only discussed cooperation with the development of nuclear energy program in Iran along with other trade issues, he said.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry was more direct.
"The Czech Republic is not considering nuclear cooperation with Iran," said Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Richard Krpaè.
He said cooperation would not be possible because of a Czech law from 2000 banning deliveries for the Iranian nuclear facility in Bushehr. But earlier this year, Helena Bambasová, a senior director at the Foreign Affairs Ministry, said an EU law preventing the export of any "dual-use" material to Iran — that is, material that could be used for both civilian nuclear power or for weapons development — superceded that law upon Czech accession to the EU.
Both ministries agreed that any assistance on the Czech Republic's part has to be in step with EU policy on Iran, which is still taking shape.
'The wrong time'
"There was a very complicated negotiation within the European Parliament," Hybášková said. "The general consensus is to recognize the Iranian right for civil use for nuclear atomic energy."
She said that the EP will not limit any member state's participation in an Iranian civil nuclear energy program, but in her opinion, the Czech Republic should wait.
"If any country starts to collaborate with Iran before it comes back to the negotiation table, it is the wrong time," she said.
The EU has asked Iran to put all of its nuclear programs under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mravinac said such oversight would have to be in place before his ministry would act.
"We could only offer cooperation after Iran provides required political guarantees, which, at the moment, is not the case," he said.
Jan Krè, press attaché with the U.S. Embassy in Prague, would not answer whether Czech–U.S. relations would suffer if the Czech Republic aided Iran, but said, "The Czechs are very aware that we are very concerned about the situation in Iran."
A ruptured relationship
It is unclear why the Industry and Trade Ministry would even consider getting itself tangled up in such a heated international issue, especially when it has to do with Iran – a country with which the Czech Republic has had a deteriorating diplomatic relationship.
Tensions rose eight years ago, after Radio Farda — a special broadcast to Iran carried by U.S.-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — began airing stories critical of the Iranian government. Iran recalled its ambassador to the Czech Republic as a result.
Iran has also placed restrictions on Czech imports since 2003, Krpaè said, although it has not announced them formally. These goods — mostly metallurgy and manufacturing equipment — make up less than 0.1 percent of total Czech output.
Earlier this year, the Czech Republic considered lifting the five-year-old law banning Czech firms from providing deliveries to Iran's nuclear power plant as a gesture of goodwill. Foreign Affairs Minister Cyril Svoboda later nixed the idea.
In September, the International Institute for Strategic Studies concluded that Iran is several years away from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability.
—Petr Kašpar contributed to this report.
