Arab states: Israel nuclear danger reinforced by its aggression
Arab states target Israel at UN nuclear debate, urge Israel to join global anti-nuclear arms pact NPT.
By Reuters Tags: Iran Israel nuclear IAEAStory Highlights
- Iran, Arab states say Israel main threat in Middle East
- U.S., Israel deplore 'divisive' debate as distraction
- West says focus could hurt UN nuclear pact initiative
Arab nations backed by Iran urged Israel to join a global anti-nuclear arms pact at a rare and divisive United Nations atomic watchdog debate a day after new sanctions were passed against Tehran.
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Iran's ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh speaking at a meeting of the IAEA board of governors in Vienna on June 10, 2010. |
| Photo by: AP |
Israel, presumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear weapons arsenal, condemned the push at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting on Thursday as being fuelled by countries which question Israel's existence.
Western countries warned that honing in on Israel could jeopardize broader steps aimed at banning weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.
"What the region needs is to come together in a cooperative, consensual way," Washington's envoy Glyn Davies said. "This is not going to happen if the parties of the region engage in name-calling, if they wag fingers at each other."
It was the first time the IAEA's policy-making board tackled the topic since 1991, coinciding with wider scrutiny of Israel after its raid on a Gaza-bound aid convoy and a UN conference which put its nuclear policy in the spotlight.
"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.
By shunning the 40-year-old NPT Israel has not had to reject atomic arms or allow the IAEA to probe all of its nuclear sites. India, Pakistan and North Korea are also outside the NPT.
Signatories of the pact - nearly all of the world's nations - last month called for a conference in 2012 to discuss banning weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. If realized, the zone could ultimately force Israel to join the treaty.
Iran, angered by a fourth round of UN sanctions passed against it on Wednesday over its nuclear program seized on the debate to accuse the West of "double standards" and discrimination.
Iran rejects Western allegations it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, arguing that its nuclear program has only peaceful aims.
"There is only one potential threat to the security of the region...which is the nuclear weapons capability of Israel," Iranian ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said.
He said the West's reluctance to discuss Israel while pressuring Iran was "very worrisome" because it protected those outside the NPT and could provoke members to withdraw from it. He said Iran had no intention of doing this as of now.
Iran is seen by Western nations as an NPT renegade and bomb risk for hiding sensitive nuclear activity. They say Israel is not comparable because it is not in the NPT while Iran is. Many developing nations say that this is precisely the problem.
The IAEA debate on "Israeli nuclear capabilities" was on the agenda at the behest of Arab nations who want watchdog chief Yukiya Amano to help implement an IAEA resolution urging Israel to enter the NPT and put its sites under agency oversight.
Amano said he would report on his progress in September.
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Ambassador Davies: "What the region needs is to come together in a cooperative, consensual way." Gosh, guys, come on! Really!....Sort of... A region of Arabs, Jews and other peoples who have been hating, oppressing and killing each other...for thousands of years...need to approach weapons of mass destruction...get this!..."in a cooperative, consensual way!" If you ever needed evidence for why professional US diplomats should be kept off the tables of any important discussion, look no further. Hopeless, bottomless, useless naiveté.
Can anyone now believe that Israel is safe with nuclear weapons considering the insanity of the govt and certain sections of society?
I beg to differ on one account. No one told us to leave "Palestine". There was no Palestine. Not until the Romans re-named Judea the "Land of the Philistines", aka Palestine circa 70 AD.
The double standard, hypocrisy and duplicity on the part of the West are only diminishing their image and reputation in world politics. For every action there is a reaction. If not today, some time in future the oppressed communities in the world would rise against the oppressors. History has been witnessed to such events many times in the past, because you can rule by force but not by injustice and discrimination.
Stop trying to blatantly stamp Islamic spiritual and physical revisionism over the Jewish State & its people. Humble yourselves and be teachable if you can ... and since you've proven over the centuries that you can't because your lowly physical status in the world doesn't mesh ideologically with your presumptuous spiritual position of being above everyone else, Israel has and will use (if need be) the defensive systems it has.
and it add to its regional hubris - would they violate the air space of Syria (which is an act of war) and bomb it if Syria had nukes, especially with its proximity that can reach all of Israel in minutes? I think not - Iran will add balance to the region and then peace will come.
all they want. If iran can't have nuclear weapons neither can Israel. I'll tell you what machood I'll sent you a towel to wipe away your fake tears. Your a loser in a third world country and your time in the lime light will come to an ABRUPT END SOON. Your good for two things worm food and pushing up tulips !!!
That's what every Western representative at this UN Nuclear conference was thinking. I doubt Ha'aretz would print this truthful comment, though. I don't know what they're afraid of.
Most of us in the free world are totally opposed to this disgusting campaign against Iran and the Iranian people. Just because Israel is paranoiac and wants to divert attention from its oppression of the Palestinians and human rights violations, doesn’t mean we have to support their quest for bombing a country that has done nothing wrong to them or anyone else. It is not Iran that’s the aggressive country in the ME. It is not Iran that has nuclear weapons in the ME. It is not Iran that should be boycotted but Israel.
Remember you represent yourself, I for one am not against the campaign against Iran and I live in the free world and I know for a fact that many people are for the campaign againnst Iran. What's more is that the arab countries have in the past attacked Israel and they continue to deny its right to exist and some even called for its destruction. Israel has never called for the Destruction of any country so wouldn't you say its Arab aggression towards Israel. Oh and one more thing, most arab countries are in violation of human rights -against women, some will arrest you for being a Jew or carry a bible into that country and much much more
I thought I saw a tired man with a list trailing from a convoy of trucks asking passers by to sign a petition that they were against the disgusting campaign against Iran. Hallelujah Tony,a man who speaks for Most of the World and isn't Charlton Heston.
Great logic Tony, you should ask Iranians what they really think about and call Arabs behind closed doors. You obviously haven't scraped up the cash to travel to the middle east and actually learn something about what's going on over there before posting. Wake up man, it's already the 21st Century! If you've been following/researching Iran's foreign policy over the last 30 years since the revolution you wouldn't be so naive to assert they haven't done anything wrong to Israel or anyone else. What's your only source of information, PressTV? There is a reason why they don't need the revenue of commercials to stay on the air.
Israel continues to defy the international community through its continued refusal to accede to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
so israel is not a part of the NPT, and any country is free to implement sanctions in response, just as they are to india and pakistan and n korea.
It's been 50 years since Israel was alleged to have developed nuclear weapons - think they would have used them sooner if they wanted to destroy those who seek to destroy them? Definitely. Iran and the rest of the Arab are trying to take advantage of last week's events.
With the kind of loonies leading the country, I would say Israel IS a threat. It's like the insane asylum being run by the patients.
If Israel is having nuclear weapons then they should declare it. I don't think that Iran is so dumb that they will attack Israel. Rather there are more chances that Israel will attack on Iran in advance.
but how are Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and Syria going to annihilate the Jews if they have Nuclear weapons. It won't be possible. That's the problem in a nutshell.
anyone with a fair thinking mind would not agree to the adopting of two weights and two measures. the case of israel is not a new one. iran's intentions for a nuclear weapons programme is new. but for decades the west in backing israel's secret ambitions was and is a mistake. iran, iraq, lebanon, syria, the palestinians, are all victims of this foul unacceptable game. it was wrong from the start. the west should not hammer so hard on the iranian population as they did with iraq. it's all wrong. thank you.
I am against nuclear weapons period. But Israel’s hypocrisy on this issue will inevitably lead to one or several of its enemies to develop a deterrent to Israeli nukes”. Israeli leaders are Obsessive-neurotic-paranoid with delusions of grandeur
It is a fair point that Israel was the nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the middle east. Had it not done so, perhaps Iran would not be hell-bent to get them itself. would Iran forego its ambitions if Israel would give up its nuclear arsenal? We can't know that for sure, but it is at least thinkable.
Israel made a very fateful decision in the 1950s to become the first nation to introduce nuclear arms to the Middle East. Nixon and Kissinger (Zionist jew) made and equally fateful decision to lend U.S. support to Israeli weapons of mass destruction. Now, the chickens are coming home to roostIsrael made a very fateful decision in the 1950s to become the first nation to introduce nuclear arms to the Middle East. Nixon and Kissinger (Zionist jew) made and equally fateful decision to lend U.S. support to Israeli weapons of mass destruction. Now, the chickens are coming home to roost
like it or not... nuclear aparthied wont work.... come clean israel before its wrung out of you
the bell isn't working. It hasn't worked for what seems an eternity. An eternity of humiliation, of being excluded, persecuted, hounded out and gassed. And you want Jews to trust YOU?
Without nukes and with Turkey against it also, the only mean to survive is having Nukes. NO chance in the World ro remove them...
where we are nice and cozy in our safety :)