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FM: Raising concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear work while ignoring Israel's nukes 'unacceptable'

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 10 May 2025 11:50 PM

Iran has called attention to the double standards of the international community regarding nuclear weapons, calling it "unacceptable" for Western powers to raise alleged concerns over the country's peaceful nuclear energy program while overlooking the Israeli regime's extensive nuclear arsenal.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made the remarks during an extended address during the Fourth Round of Iranian-Arab Dialogues conference in the Qatari capital Doha on Saturday.

The top diplomat reminded that the Islamic Republic's nuclear energy activities were a peaceful and legitimate pursuit in contrast to the nuclear weapons possessed by the Israeli regime.

He reaffirmed that Iran did not seek nuclear weapons and that weapons of mass destruction had no place in the country's security doctrine.

The foreign minister pointed out that the country was one of the initiators of a nuclear-weapon-free zone concept in Asia and called on Western countries to abandon their double standards regarding nuclear proliferation.

"Iran is committed to the international non-proliferation regime," Araghchi explained, denouncing Western countries' and their allies' decades-old way of raising uncalled-for alarm about the nation's peaceful nuclear energy program while turning a blind eye to the Israeli regime's nuclear arsenal.

For decades, the United States, its European allies, and Washington's allied parties elsewhere across the globe have been using allegations of Iran's pursuing non-conventional arms to either enact or agitate anti-Iranian policies, including sanctions, and anti-Iranian discourse.

This is while Iran's leadership has categorically ruled out such endeavor in line with moral and religious imperatives.

The Islamic Republic's refusal to either pursue, develop or stockpiles such weaponry has also been unexceptionally proven during the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)'s inspections, making the country the most-verified member of the United Nations nuclear watchdog.

'Israel greatest threat to regional peace'

Pointing again to the Israeli regime's nuclear weapons program and arsenal and instances of its deadly adventurism and expansionism across the West Asia region, the official said, "The existence of the Zionist regime remains the single greatest threat to peace in the region."

He condemned the United States for supporting the regime unwaveringly and exponentially, calling Washington an accomplice in the regime's atrocities, including its acts of violence and injustice targeting Palestinians.

The foreign minister described the regime's ongoing genocidal and other aggressive measures as a direct attempt to erase the Palestinian nation.

Such prospect, he said, would amount to complete colonial erasure of the Palestinian nation through the most horrific forms of violence and forced displacement.

He identified the so-called "two-state solution" as a myth used to delay the realization of Palestinian rights for decades, and reminded that the regime, itself, had ruled out even that prospect.

Iran-US talks: A clarification on nuclear rights

As the fourth round of indirect talks between Iran and the United States was set to begin the following day, Araghchi said, "We will continue our discussions with the United States — and concurrently with Europe, Russia, and China — in good faith."

However, he made it clear that if the goal of these discussions was to ensure that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, that objective had already been achieved.

The official also firmly stated that if the aim was to deny Iran its legitimate nuclear rights and impose unrealistic demands, the Islamic Republic would not yield. "The Islamic Republic of Iran will never, under any circumstances, surrender any of the legitimate rights of the proud Iranian nation."

In the same context, he underscored that Iran's right to peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment, was non-negotiable.

On regional cooperation, the path forward

Araghchi stressed the importance of regional convergence as the path forward for Western Asian nations.

He called for deeper trust-building and mutual understanding, advocating for cooperative initiatives in areas like cultural exchange, trade, and tourism.

According to Araghchi, prosperity in the region depends not on the rise of dominant nations, but on the success of a strong region as a whole.