Nuclear Chief: Iran Reserves Right to Respond to Israeli Threats

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami cautioned that the Israeli regime has jeopardize the credibility of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and further warned that Tehran reserves the right to give a tit-for-tat response to Israel’s arrogant behavior.

Addressing the 67th Regular Session of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on Monday, Eslami referred to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks, and stressed there is no doubt that the international community’s silence has emboldened Zionists.

Netanyahu called for a “credible nuclear threat” against Tehran in an address to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Israeli premier’s office later clarified that he misread the line and meant to say a “credible military threat”.

“It is clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran is entitled to respond to the audacities of the Zionist regime,” Eslami emphasized.

The nuclear chief added Israel’s threats against Iran’s nuclear scientists are in violation of the Statute of the IAEA and the United Nations Charter.

He noted Iran, as the initiator of the nuclear-weapon-free-zone plan in the Middle East, expresses its concern about the secret nuclear military program of the Israeli regime.

“Unfortunately, the Zionist regime has not placed its nuclear program under the safeguards agreement, and therefore, it is considered a threat to international peace and security,” he said, adding that Israel has endangered the integrity and credibility of the NPT and the IAEA.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the AEOI head stated Iran will promote its citizens’ living standards through scientific and technical breakthrough in the nuclear technology in the face of the decades-long US-led sanctions.

Eslami also called on the IAEA to take tangible measures to remain impartial and avoid disclosing confidential information on Iran’s nuclear activities and sites.

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the Middle East’s sole possessor of non-conventional arms.

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia. The illegitimate entity has, however, refused to either allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the NPT. The Zionist regime has assassinated at least seven Iranian nuclear scientists and conducted a series of sabotage operations against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities.

Tehran has repeatedly stressed the necessity for countries which possess atomic weapons to take practical steps towards disarmament. Iran has also proposed the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

Iran has deplored the Israeli regime’s clandestine nuclear program as a real threat to the Middle East region.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program remains purely peaceful as always and that the Islamic Republic had no intention of developing nuclear weapons as a matter of an Islamic and state principal.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued an official fatwa (religious decree) clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons violate Islamic principles and are therefore forbidden.

Iran has proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers. However, Washington’s exit in May 2018 and its subsequent re-imposition of sanctions against Tehran left the future of the agreement in limbo.