Dutch delegates to the nuclear weapons conference in New York joined colleagues from the US, Britain and France in walking out on the speech by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday night.

During his speech, Ahmadinejad accused countries with nuclear weapons of threatening those who wanted to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
Nuclear powers which did not disarm ‘serve as a justification for the others to develop their own’, he said. ‘The possession of nuclear bombs is not a source of pride. Its possession is disgusting and shameful,’ the BBC quoted him as saying.
US bases
Dutch foreign minister Maxime Verhagen said later the walk-out by Dutch diplomats was not because Ahmadinejad had refered to US nuclear weapons bases in Europe but because it contributed ‘nothing constructive’ to the debate.
The Dutch delegation left at the moment the Iranian president accused Israel of wanting to attack other countries in the region. ‘If Iran really believed nuclear weapons are something to be ashamed of, it would… be open about its own nuclear programme,’ news agency ANP quoted him as saying.
Motion

Last month a majority of MPs backed a motion ordering Verhagen to make it clear to the US that the Netherlands wants to be rid of American nuclear weapons stationed on European soil.
On Tuesday, Socialist MP Krista van Velzen accused Verhagen of avoiding the issue in his own speech to the meeting. Verhagen called for a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons but that is not the same as withdrawal, she said.
‘It was a weak story that will not contribute to a nuclear-free Europe,’ she told the Telegraaf.

For Verhagen’s speech to the meeting, click here