WHAT DOES IRAN HAVE TO DO WITH ISRAEL?


positiveion50@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
Iran: UN should condemn Israel's 'clandestine' nuclear weapons
Last update - 07:47 20/12/2006
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/803240.html

Iran demanded Tuesday that the United Nations Security Council condemn
what it said was Israel's clandestine development and possession of
nuclear weapons.

Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the UN, said in identical letters to
the council and to the secretary-general that the Security Council
should "condemn Israeli regime's clandestine development and possession
of nuclear weapons, compel it to abandon nuclear weapons, [and] urge it
to accede" to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Zarif said the Security Council should demand that all of Israel's
nuclear facilities be subject to inspection by the International Atomic
Energy Agency and be placed under its safeguards program.

"Should the Israeli regime fail to do so, the council must take
resolute action under Chapter 7 of the Charter to ensure compliance,"
he said.

Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which authorizes a range of measures from
diplomatic and economic sanctions to military action.

Iran insists its own nuclear program is purely peaceful to develop
nuclear energy, but the United States and many European nations believe
Tehran's real aim in enriching uranium is to produce nuclear weapons.

The Security Council is currently debating a resolution that would
impose sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend its enrichment
program.

Zarif said in the letters that the council's actions would show whether
it was acting under the UN Charter or as "a tool" for a few permanent
members who have encouraged Israel "to persist in its lawless behavior
with impunity."

The statement may be in reference to the U.S., Israel's closest ally,
which would almost certainly veto any council resolution on Israel's
nuclear program.

Zarif said Israel was the only obstacle to establishing a nuclear
weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

"Peace and stability cannot be achieved in the Middle East while the
massive Israeli nuclear arsenal continues to threaten the region and
beyond," he said.

Zarif said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's recent comments in a
German television interview constituted not only a public admission of
the country's nuclear weapons but a public boast of how dangerous they
are.

Israel has a long-standing policy of ambiguity on nuclear weapons,
refusing to confirm or deny whether it has them. But in the German TV
interview broadcast December 12, Olmert listed Israel among countries
that possess nuclear weapons.

Israel's UN Mission had no immediate comment on Zarif's letters.

The Iranian ambassador insisted in the letters, obtained by the
Associated Press, that Olmert's comments were a clear admission that
Israel possessed nuclear weapons in violation of international law, the
UN Charter, and numerous Security Council and General Assembly
resolutions.

"Nuclear weapons in the hands of a regime with an unparalleled record
of noncompliance with Security Council resolutions and a long and dark
catalogue of crimes and atrocities such as occupation, aggression,
militarism, state-terrorism, and crimes against humanity, poses a
uniquely grave threat to regional as well as international peace and
security," Zarif claimed.

He called on the council to fulfill its responsibility under the UN
Charter "to address such a clear and serious threat to international
peace and security."

Israel is not part of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel is not
threatening anybody, IRAN IS. In fact, the multiple concerted
efforts to "drive Israel into the sea" has made it imperative
for Israel to retain nuclear weapons.

And lastly:

WHAT DOES IRAN HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH ISRAEL?

"This is the first time in many years that the official
leader of a major nation with more than 70 million
citizens has talked publicly and officially of the liquidation
of another nation that is a member of the United Nations."
-Prime Minister of Israel regarding Ahmadinejad

.