Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed the claims by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Iran's nuclear activities, saying due to its questionable record, Tel Aviv “is in no position” to make accusations regarding other countries’ peaceful nuclear program.
“Netanyahu must explain how Israel, as the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, can level such shameless accusations against a country whose [nuclear] program has been repeatedly declared peaceful by the International Atomic Energy Agency,” Zarif told IRNA on Thursday.
In an address to the United Nations General Assembly earlier in the day, the Israeli official renewed allegations that Iran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons, despite its 2015 agreement with world powers to curb its program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.
His words, which were accompanied by pictorial aid showing what he claimed was the location of a nuclear-related warehouse in Tehran, were aimed at rallying support for US sanctions against Iran.
Futile Effort
Zarif also responded early on Friday in a tweet calling for more scrutiny of Israel's nuclear program.
“No arts & craft show will ever obfuscate that Israel is the only regime in our region with a *secret* and *undeclared* nuclear weapons program, including an *actual atomic arsenal*. Time for Israel to fess up and open its illegal nuclear weapons program to international inspectors,” he tweeted.
Netanyahu has previously made allegations about Iran’s nuclear activities, including presenting a cartoon bomb to the General Assembly in 2012 warning of how close Tehran was to producing a nuclear device.
Habitual Liar
Speaking to IRNA, Zarif likened Netanyahu to “the boy who cried wolf”, saying he “does not seem to want to stop lying”.
“They once developed a game called the notebook case, did much ado and the IAEA paid a huge price over the years, but when they came and inspected, they closed the case,” he said referring to the “laptop documents” that were supposedly obtained from a stolen Iranian computer by an unknown source and given to US intelligence in 2004.
The documents were later proven to be fabrications.
Zarif said Tel Aviv only seeks to distance itself from the fact that Israel is the biggest threat in the Middle East when Netanyahu stands beside a nuclear weapon development center and threatens to destroy other states.
“This intrusive regime will definitely get nowhere with such games,” he said.
According to Zarif, the policies that Netanyahu has imposed on the US have isolated them in the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
“When they can pull America to this level of isolation, see how isolated they are themselves.”
In April, Netanyahu presented what he said was evidence of a large secret archive of documents related to Iran’s alleged clandestine nuclear weapons program at a different site in Tehran, according to a Reuters report.
He said Israeli agents removed vast amounts of documents from that site. At the time, Iran said the documents were fake.
In his recent speech, Netanyahu asserted that Iran had since begun moving items out of the warehouse.
“Just last month they removed 15 kilograms of radioactive material … They took it out and they spread it around Tehran in an effort to hide the evidence.”
Netanyahu claimed there were some 15 shipping containers full of nuclear-related equipment and materials stored at the warehouse that contained as much as 300 tons of nuclear-related equipment and materiel.
Ridiculous Show
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi noted that after the American and Israeli failure to play out their anti-Iran scenario, such a ridiculous show from the Israeli prime minister was not unexpected.
“The world will only laugh loudly at this type of false, undigested and meaningless speech and false shows,” Qasemi said.
Under the nuclear deal struck between Iran and major powers in July 2015, Tehran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly said Tehran has been abiding by its commitments to the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
