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Iran urges probe into Israeli nukes

10 June 2010 22:42 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Iran urges the IAEA to send a fact-finding mission to Israel to probe into its nuclear sites as Middle East nations demand Tel Aviv join a global anti-nuclear arms treaty, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors met for a fourth day on Thursday with "Israeli nuclear capabilities" high on the agenda.

Israel, presumed to have the Middle East’s sole nuclear weapons arsenal, is not a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) despite repeated calls by the international community.

"Undoubtedly, the [Israeli] nuclear weapons capability is a potential threat to peace and security in the Middle East and the world," Iran’s envoy to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh was quoted by IRNA as saying on Thursday.

He further criticized the West’s "double standards" regarding the issue, saying that while Western countries were reluctant to discuss Israel’s nuclear arsenal, they pressured Iran, an NPT signatory, over its peaceful nuclear program.

Israel, which upholds a policy of nuclear ambiguity with US backing, has rebelled against a UN nuclear declaration finalized after a month-long deliberation at the 2010 NPT Review Conference that called on Tel Aviv to become a signatory to the treaty.

"Iran proposes ... that a fact-finding missing be sent to the occupied territories to report the results of its probe to the [Board of Governors’] general conference," Soltanieh said.

Arab nations present at the Vienna meeting called on IAEA chief Yukiya Amano to help implement an IAEA resolution urging Israel to enter the NPT and put its sites under agency oversight, Reuters reported.

"Israel continues to defy the international community through its continued refusal to accede to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," Sudan’s envoy Mahmoud El-Amin told the 35-nation meeting in Vienna on behalf of Arab states.

"The Israeli nuclear danger is reinforced by (its) aggressive policies towards Arab countries," he said.

Amano said he would report on his progress in September.