Iran Says No Place For Nuclear Weapons In Defense Doctrine

Iran’s foreign minister says the application of double standards to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is the most serious threat to its integrity.

Addressing the UN Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Ali Akbar Salehi noted that while NPT member states in the Middle East are under mounting pressure to relinquish their nuclear rights, certain regimes which have not acceded to the treaty are generously encouraged.

Referring to possession of nuclear weapons by the Zionist regime of Israel, Salehi stated that the risks of possessing nuclear weapons by this regime, which is not an NPT member, has caused other regional states not to join international conventions on weapons of mass destruction.

“Discrimination, double standards, and hypocrisy are the only words which can describe the behavior of some nuclear-weapon states in the best possible manner,” he added.

“Nuclear energy is not the same as developing nuclear weapons and the rights of nations to peaceful use of the nuclear energy must be seriously taken into consideration,” Salehi said.

The Iranian foreign minister further stated that nuclear weapons have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine.

“According to the fatwa [religious decree] issued by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, building nuclear weapons is a sin and stockpiling them is both useless and dangerous,” he said.

Salehi emphasized the Iranian nation will never give up its inalienable right to peaceful use of the nuclear energy and will never give in to threats or terrorism.

Iran’s Foreign Minister has lashed out at the Israeli regime for proliferating nuclear weapons, insisting on the need to establish a Middle East that is free of such weapons.

“We look for a Middle East region free of nuclear weapons. There is, unfortunately, one country that holds nuclear weapons and remains outside the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) while its nuclear installations are not under the safeguards of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency),” Salehi said.

The Tel Aviv regime, which is widely believed to own over 200 atomic warheads as the only possessor of nukes in the Middle East, refuses to sign the NPT and yet does not face any international scrutiny.

Under its policy of “nuclear ambiguity,” Israel has never denied its possession of atomic arms and does not allow any inspection of its nuclear activities by international regulatory bodies.

“The disarmament points to those that hold nuclear weapons while non-proliferation concerns others that do not have nuclear weapons,” added the top Iranian diplomat.

So, he said, nuclear powers insist on narrowing even the slightest possibilities of nuclear activity for those nations that do not possess nuclear arms but wish to gain access to peaceful nuclear technology.

Salehi also reiterated the significance of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons by all countries, saying, “They always issue guidance to others while do not commit themselves to what they recommend to others.”