IAEA Chief: Israel Impedes Nuclear Disarmament
By VOA News
17 February 2009
The head of the United Nations' nuclear agency said Israel's refusal to sign the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty undermines the treaty's legitimacy in Arab public opinion.
Writing in the International Herald Tribune newspaper, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that Israel is the only state in the Middle East known to have nuclear weapons.
Israel has never confirmed nor denied that it has nuclear weapons. But ElBaradei said Israel's position creates a perceived double standard.
ElBaradei said the issue compounds the challenges of resolving the Palestinian issue, which he said is the world's most perilous and intractable conflict.
The IAEA chief also said U.S. President Barack Obama's pledge to engage in direct diplomacy with Iran is long overdue.
Washington and other Western nations suspect Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons, and the U.N. has placed Tehran under three sets of international sanctions. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes.
ElBaradei's final term as the head of the IAEA ends in November.
Some information for this report was provided by Reuters.
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