National
0

US, Israeli Allegations Hollow, Worthless

Israel, which possesses hundreds of nuclear warheads, is viewed as the biggest threat to peace and security in the Middle East and the world
Bahram Qasemi
Bahram Qasemi

Iran's Foreign Ministry said Israel's nuclear arms arsenal poses the biggest threat to world peace, dismissing allegations by Israeli and US leaders against Iran's nuclear program as "hollow" and "worthless". 

The reaction on Thursday came a day after US President Donald Trump called Iran's nuclear program a threat to Israel during a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. 

"The statements did not contain any new point … [and were] a repetition of hollow and worthless allegations against Iran's peaceful nuclear program," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi was quoted as saying by Press TV.

Terming the nuclear deal with Iran as "the worst" agreement ever, Trump pledged to impose new sanctions on Iran to prevent the country from what he called developing a nuclear weapon. 

Qasemi said, "Such claims are repeated while the International Atomic Energy Agency, in its reports, has time and again confirmed Iran's nuclear program as peaceful—a fact that has been verified many times by different countries."

  Bitter Truth 

"The bitter truth is that these remarks and inadmissible allegations are repeated by a regime that is not committed to any international law and convention, and has hundreds of warheads in its atomic arsenal," he said. 

Israel, Qasemi said, "is viewed as the biggest threat to peace and security in the Middle East and the world, and its ponderous file of endless atrocities and inhuman actions against the oppressed Palestinian people and other neighbors is recorded in numerous UN reports".

In their joint news conference, Netanyahu applauded Trump for imposing new sanctions on Iran over a ballistic missile test, which Tehran believes was in violation of the nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. 

On Tuesday, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano confirmed that Iran was implementing the nuclear agreement under which Tehran has undertaken to scale back its nuclear program in return for lifting the sanctions. Qasemi said, "Nuclear weapons are forbidden from the religious standpoint, corresponding with the fatwa of the Leader of Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei] and have no place in Iran's military doctrine."

The Islamic Republic, he said, will seriously continue to pursue those components of its peaceful nuclear program, which are validated by the United Nations Security Council within the framework of JCPOA.     

Under Resolution 2231, the Security Council has endorsed the nuclear deal that went into effect in January 2016. On his campaign trail, Trump threatened to annul the deal, which he has lambasted as "the worst accord ever negotiated" and "one of the dumbest" ones he has come cross.

However, Trump and his team will find it difficult to unilaterally abrogate an accord also signed by five other world powers. 

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints

Financialtribune.com