The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference yesterday called for U.N. inspections of Israel's nuclear arsenal, Iran's Press TV reported (see GSN, Sept. 24).
Israel is widely believed to possess the only nuclear arms in the Middle East, though it has for decades maintained a policy of neither confirming nor denying its arsenal.
"Israel's nuclear weapons should be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency," OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said at a nuclear security and nonproliferation summit in Cairo, Egypt (see GSN, Oct. 19). The meeting was set to address nuclear counterterrorism, efforts to secure potential nuclear-weapon ingredients and efforts to establish a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.
All countries should encourage Jerusalem to abandon its atomic arsenal and join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Ihsanoglu said. He backed the right of all states to develop civilian nuclear power programs while arguing it was indefensible to permit only certain nations to possess nuclear weapons.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog is not an appropriate forum for lobbying Israel to join the nonproliferation pact, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in September. Jerusalem has offered complete cooperation with the Vienna-based atomic agency, he said (Press TV, Oct. 20).
Israel is widely believed to possess the only nuclear arms in the Middle East, though it has for decades maintained a policy of neither confirming nor denying its arsenal.
"Israel's nuclear weapons should be inspected by the International Atomic Energy Agency," OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said at a nuclear security and nonproliferation summit in Cairo, Egypt (see GSN, Oct. 19). The meeting was set to address nuclear counterterrorism, efforts to secure potential nuclear-weapon ingredients and efforts to establish a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.
All countries should encourage Jerusalem to abandon its atomic arsenal and join the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Ihsanoglu said. He backed the right of all states to develop civilian nuclear power programs while arguing it was indefensible to permit only certain nations to possess nuclear weapons.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog is not an appropriate forum for lobbying Israel to join the nonproliferation pact, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in September. Jerusalem has offered complete cooperation with the Vienna-based atomic agency, he said (Press TV, Oct. 20).
http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20101021_4764.php
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