Global News

The concept of Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) was first proposed by Egypt back in 1974, but has yet to advance beyond the discussion stage due to the intransigence of one regional power.

The United States and Israel are the two main obstacles to the four-and-a-half decade old idea of a WMD-free Middle East, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has said.

“The irresponsible policies and actions [of Israel and the US] to proliferate WMD should not be acceptable to the international community,” Ambassador Majid Takht-Ravanchi said, speaking at the conference on the proposed establishment of a WMD-free Middle East in New York on Monday, his remarks quoted by Mehr News.

“The WMD arsenal of the Israeli regime supported by the USA and the latter’s unwillingness to engage in the work of the Conference are the two main obstacles in the realization of the idea of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East,” the envoy noted.

Both the Israeli and US ambassadors to the UN skipped Monday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, Takht-Ravanchi said that Iran’s “well-known position” on all three types of WMDs – nuclear, chemical and biological, was the “total, irreversible and verifiable elimination of these inhumane weapons.”

“This policy stems from our Islamic believe, rational calculation of our national interest and that of the region and the bitter experience of being the major victim of the most systemic chemical attacks in contemporary history,” the ambassador added, referring to the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-1988, when Iraq used chemical weapons procured with US help in over 350 large-scale chemical attacks against Iranian troops.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201911191077351055-irans-un-ambassador-reveals-the-two-main-obstacles-to-a-nuclear-free-middle-east/?utm_source=https://t.co/SIRsYPy74s&utm_medium=short_url&utm_content=AyMX&utm_campaign=URL_shortening