The Church of Scotland’s General Assembly will next week hear an appeal to the UK Government to do “all in its power” to prevent foreign military intervention in Iran.
The Church of Scotland's annual General Assembly will meet in Edinburgh from 15 to 21 May.
The Church & Society Council said Iran was a concern because of its role as a key player in a number of regional political issues, including the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians and the future course of both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Although the Council views Iran’s production of enriched uranium as a serious concern, the General Assembly will hear that the prospect of US military action against Iran, or a pre-emptive strike by Israel, are solutions that could prove worse than the original problem in terms of regional instability and loss of life in the Middle East.
Among the calls that are set to be made at the Assembly is an appeal for the British Government to make its opposition to the possible development of Iranian nuclear weapons “credible” by scrapping the nuclear weapons held by the UK. The renewal of the Trident weapons system is identified by the Kirk as being a breach of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT), as well as an act of “gross hypocrisy”.
"The…General Assembly has consistently opposed the proliferation of nuclear weapons and has called for nuclear disarmament. We do not believe that it is in the interests of the region for Iran, or any other state in the area, to develop a nuclear weapons capability," the Council's report to the Assembly states. "However, the position of the UK and US governments in particular is gravely weakened in relation to Iran when the UK seeks to renew Trident.
"We would argue that this failure to address their own plans for nuclear weapons expansion means that the UK and US governments are in a weak position to deal with Iran."
