IAEA Meeting Indirectly Condemns "Israel"

Source: Al-Manar TV, 05-10-2008

A UN nuclear conference of 145 nations indirectly criticized "Israel" on Saturday for refusing to put its atomic program under international purview.

But ‘Israel' managed to evade being targeted by Islamic countries pushing for a vote to link it to nuclear proliferation in the Middle East.

Iran spearheaded the verbal attack on the Jewish state. ‘Israel' is widely considered to have nuclear arms, according to foreign reports, but has a "no tell" policy on the issue.

Chief Iranian delegate Ali Ashgar Soltanieh said ‘Israel's' nuclear capabilities represent a "serious and continued threat to the security of neighboring and other states."

He took the United States and other Western backers of ‘Israel' to task for their "shameful silence" on the menace posed by ‘Israel's' atomic arsenal.

The meeting voted for a resolution urging all nations to open their nuclear activities to outside inspection and work toward the establishment of a Mideast nuclear weapons free zone. With ‘Israel' the only country in the region considered to have atomic arms, passage of the resolution constituted indirect criticism of the Jewish state.

The resolution called on all nations in the Middle East "not to develop, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons," and urged nuclear weapons states to "refrain from any action" hindering the establishment of a Mideast zone free of nuclear weapons.

But US and the European Union managed to block an effort by Arab and Muslim nations and their supporters to submit a resolution more directly critical of 'Israel' and its "nuclear capabilities."

Although last year's meeting followed a similar pattern, the votes for and against the two motions reflected shifting dynamics on the issues.

On Saturday, delegations had so far voted 82-0 for establishing the Mideast nuclear weapons free zone, with Israel, Syria and the US among those abstaining. Last year it was 53 in favor, the US and Israel against, and 47 abstentions.

The fact that the second motion more directly critical of ‘Israel' was only narrowly defeated indicated support for the Islamic nations was growing, particularly among developing countries. Of those present at the meeting, 46 nations voted against the motion, 43 voted for it, and seven abstained.