Iran hails IAEA vote on Israel nukes

A vote on an International Atomic Energy Agency resolution urging Israel to join the NPT “opened a new chapter” in global efforts to deal with Tel Aviv’s nuclear issue, says Iran’s IAEA envoy.

On Friday, a group of 51 mostly Western countries rejected a draft resolution urging Tel Aviv, widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and allow UN inspections of its covert nuclear facilities.

This is while 46 countries voted in support of the text and 23 states abstained from vote.

Iran’s IAEA envoy Ali Asghar Soltanieh hailed the resolution which was put to vote despite the “great efforts … made to stop the resolution.”

Soltanieh said on Tuesday Iran agreed to withdraw its bid for membership in the IAEA Board of Governors to “voice solidarity” with the Arab states in proposing the resolution.

“Although the resolution… was not passed, it became a starting point and a new chapter for continuing efforts to pass the resolution in the future,” he was quoted by Mehr News Agency as saying.

The Iranian envoy concluded that Tehran would not stop efforts to bring Israel’s nuclear arsenal under the IAEA supervision.

Israel, which is believed to possess over 200 nuclear warheads, has refused worldwide calls to join the non-proliferation treaty.

Under a policy of “nuclear ambiguity” backed by the United States, Tel Aviv has also refused to join the IAEA or allow inspections of its controversial nuclear program.