Sep 20, 2018
In a duel with the Israeli representative, Iran’s UN ambassador Gholamali Khoshrou used the 62nd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna to call on the UN to force Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and bring its nuclear program under IAEA supervision. Following statements by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu last month, Zeev Snir, DG of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, told the conference that Israel was constantly upgrading defenses at its nuclear sites in the face of Iranian threats. During a visit to the nuclear reactor in southern Israel last month, Netanyahu warned that Israel has the means to destroy enemies bent on destroying the Jewish state. This was his implied response to Iranian threats to annihilate Israel by means of its nuclear capacity.
Zeev Snir stressed that Israel could not ignore Iran’s menacing posture and called for action against Iranian and Syrian nuclear sites. “Iran and Syria pose significant proliferation threats to the region, and the world,” he said, and demanded strong action against Iran, “The IAEA must conduct a robust verification of Iran’s clandestine activities. The covert Iranian nuclear weapons program is a documented fact.”
