Iran innovated idea of nuclear-weapons-free Middle East: FM
Political Desk

On Line: 16 January 2012 17:41
In Print: Tuesday 17 January 2012

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TEHRAN – Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has said that the proposal for the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East was first made by the Islamic Republic.

Salehi made the remarks on Monday during a meeting with Under-Secretary of State in Finland’s Foreign Ministry Jaakko Laajava, who has travelled to Tehran in an effort to facilitate the smooth running of the 2012 conference in Finland on the establishment of a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

The May 2010 review meeting of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which takes place every five years, called for a UN-sponsored conference in 2012 to establish a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East to be attended by all states in the region.

Foreign Minister Salehi said the Islamic Republic of Iran has been the initiator of a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East and fulfilled its international obligations in this regard.

Salehi also said that the Zionist regime is the only country in the region that possesses nuclear weapons, a fact which poses a major threat to security in the region.

He added that the conference should focus on this issue and the fact that the Zionist regime shows no commitment to the International Atomic Energy Agency.