Zionist Entity’s Possession of Nuclear Weapons Only Nuclear Threat in Middle East: Al-Jaafari

NEW YORK, (ST)-Syria’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari has stressed that the only nuclear threat in the Middle East is that represented by Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons.

Al-Jaafari, who made the remarks on Monday during a UN General Assembly meeting dedicated to discussing the report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), stressed that the IAEA’s inaction with regard to Israel demonstrated selectivity and double standards.

Al-Jaafri affirmed that the issue of non-proliferation was one of Syria’s top priorities, having acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons earlier than many other nations. 

 He said that a number of European Union States and Turkey possessed nuclear weapons in flagrant violation of the Treaty, recalling that Syria had submitted a draft resolution to the Security Council in 2003 calling for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.  However, that draft had met objection by the United States, which had vetoed it, according to the United Nations website.

“The only nuclear threat in the Middle East is Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons and the means of delivery,” he stressed, pointing out that European countries had long provided Israel with both nuclear missiles and their means of delivery, which could now reach a distance of more than 5,000 kilometres.

He added that Israel’s possession of such Weapon of Mass Destruction raise the following question: “Against whom Israel has prepared these missiles?”

He said such activities demonstrated the selectivity and double standards of the agency.

 According to al-Jaafri, both the Security Council and the IAEA had never condemned or taken action against Israel’s flagrant military aggression on Syria in 2007 and they also had never condemned its refusal to cooperate with IAEA inspectors to verify the source of probable pollution resulted from the Israeli missiles and materials used in destroying and polluting a site in Deir Ezzour.

He also raised questions about the credibility of information provided to the Agency about the 2007 Israeli bombing of a building in Syria.

Al-Jaafari called on the IAEA to take action with regard to Israel’s nuclear weapons.

Hamda Mustafa