Iran: Israel preaching nonproliferation similar to mafia boss preaching fight against organized crime

A senior Iranian diplomat with the country’s permanent mission to international organizations in Vienna has slammed the Israeli envoy’s anti-Iran remarks in an address to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Mohammad Reza Ghaebi, who serves as the acting head of Iran’s mission in the Austrian capital, on Thursday reacted to the Israeli envoy, who “presented a long, fabricated and boring story about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities” during his speech to the IAEA’s Board.

“This regime has become so brazen that it manipulates the realities and preaches other members of the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty),” Iran’s representative said in response to the Israeli envoy’s remarks.

Ghaebi added, “Israel preaching [other IAEA members] about the importance of nonproliferation and the safeguards regime is like a mafia boss preaching [others] about the importance of laws set to fight organized crimes.”

Israel’s nuclear program, not Iran’s, is the problem

The unyielding pressure Iran has come under to allow the IAEA to monitor its own nuclear energy program in its proper context is a sign of abject hypocrisy and double standards used by the West and the US.

“This is not the first time that Israel’s representative [at the IAEA] takes up the valuable time of the Board of Governors by telling a long, boring and fabricated story about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities,” the Iranian diplomat said.

He added that the Israeli envoy had better break his silence about "this regime’s savage crimes in the region, the clandestine nuclear program and nuclear bombs of the Israeli regime, or the case of targeting and conducting terrorist attacks against peaceful nuclear installations or assassination of nuclear scientists of other countries.” 

US, Israel prevent realization of a nuke-free Middle East: Iran envoy

Iran’s UN envoy complains about the US and the Israeli regime’s efforts to prevent establishment of a nuclear weapons-free Middle East.

The Iranian diplomat also highlighted the fact that Israel is not a party to any disarmament and arms control treaty and has never been willing to put its nuclear installations and activities under IAEA’s safeguards agreements.

Throughout the years, Iran has repeatedly reassured the world, in particular its neighbors, that its nuclear program – unlike that of Israel – is for purely peaceful purposes and that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has even issued a fatwa (religious decree) banning the acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons as contrary to Islamic principles and beliefs.

Iran also signed a nuclear agreement with six world powers in 2015 to reassure the world of the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. However, the deal was abrogated by former US President Donald Trump in 2018 under intense Israeli lobbying, in spite of Iran’s strict compliance with the terms of the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime, which does not abide by international law, possesses nuclear warheads and pursues an active military nuclear program. Israel does not allow IAEA inspectors to inspect its nuclear facilities and has refused to join the NPT or any other agreement on its nuclear weapons.

Iran has repeatedly criticized Western countries for following double standards in dealing with Israel’s nuclear weapons program, saying the US and the Israeli regime prevent the establishment of a nuclear weapons-free Middle East region.

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