Riyadh calls for diplomatic solution to Iran nuclear issue
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal says Riyadh would like to see a diplomatic solution to the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program and remains convinced the issue must be resolved through talks.
“In my opinion, the only way forward is to try to reach a satisfactory settlement with the government of Iran that relies on negotiations,” he told visiting German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on Saturday, IRNA reported.
Faisal also mentioned Saudi Arabia’s proposal to make the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone.
“The task to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime in the Middle East remains extremely urgent. Regional tranquility and stability could be secured through the denuclearization of Israel, which is widely believed to possess a sizeable and uninspected arsenal” and to be the only nuclear-armed player in the Middle East, the Saudi foreign minister noted.
In addition, he stated that Muslim nations have the inalienable right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Most experts estimate that Israel has between 100 and 200 nuclear warheads, largely based on information leaked to the Sunday Times newspaper in the 1980s by Mordechai Vanunu, a former worker at the country’s Dimona nuclear reactor.
The US, a key ally of Israel, has in general followed the country’s policy of “nuclear ambiguity”, neither confirming nor denying the existence of its assumed arsenal.
However, in May 2008 former US president Jimmy Carter said Israel has at least 150 nuclear weapons in its arsenal.
Despite Iran’s full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency and the transparency of its nuclear program, Israel, along with the United States and its European allies — Britain, France, and Germany — accuse the Islamic Republic of covertly seeking to produce nuclear weapons, an allegation that Tehran vehemently denies.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran’s civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
The Islamic Republic of Iran insists its nuclear activities are only conducted for civilian applications of the technology and generating electricity in order to meet the country’s soaring demand for energy.
