Arab countries win IAEA resolution on Israeli nukes

An Arab resolution expressing concern about Israel’s nuclear weapons was narrowly passed at the IAEA Friday, in a vote exposing a rift between developing and industrialized countries.

It was the first time that the International Atomic Energy Agency general conference has adopted such a decision since 1991.

Iran’s Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the successful vote was ‘a triumph, a glorious moment.’

Iran failed in having another resolution targeting Israel passed, which would have called for a ban on attacking nuclear installations.

The adopted text, sponsored by Arab countries, was supported by 49 mostly developing states, and opposed by 45 countries including European Union members and the United States.

Of the permanent UN Security Council members, China and Russia backed the document that ‘expresses concern about the Israeli nuclear capabilities.’

It also called on Israel to accede to the Nuclear Non- proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to put its entire nuclear programme under IAEA inspections, steps that would effectively force the country to give up its atomic weapons.

Israel’s delegate David Danieli said his country would not cooperate with this resolution.

‘Singling out the state of Israel is counterproductive to confidence-building and peace in the region,’ the Israeli nuclear energy official said.

Danieli reiterated Israel’s stance that a peace settlement in the Middle East should come before regional disarmament efforts.

The adoption of the resolution was ‘hypocrisy,’ the official said, because it was backed by Iran and Syria, who are under investigation by the IAEA.

Israel’s government is believed to have atomic weapons, but it neither confirms nor denies its military nuclear capacity as a matter of policy.

Israel is the only country in the region that is not a signatory to the NPT and therefore accepts only limited IAEA inspections.

‘The international community and the majority of (IAEA) member states cannot tolerate the status quo any more,’ Soltanieh said.

Western countries had opposed the document, arguing that after Thursday’s resolution calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was adopted, there was no need for a separate one on Israel.

Iran had proposed an additional resolution indirectly referring to Israel, calling for a ban on attacks on nuclear facilities.

It was not voted on, as it did not get enough support from IAEA members.

Instead, the conference agreed on a non-binding text containing the notion that attacks and threats against civilian nuclear sites violate the UN charta, international law and the IAEA statute.

Israel’s air force destroyed an alleged secret Syrian reactor in 2007, as well as Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981.

In 1980, Iran also attacked Osirak.