Ali Bahreini in the opening speech of the 2024 disarmament conference on Tuesday called Israel the only obstacle to creating a West Asia free of weapons of mass destruction.
“The year 2023 ended with an unprecedented arms race, nuclear threats and rhetoric, genocide and various war crimes against crimes against humanity on the occupied Palestinian territories”, the Iranian diplomat stated.
He warned about growing concern over the nuclear race with a serious threat to the use nuclear weapons, saying the nuclear weapon states have not only failed to fulfill their obligations but kept renewing and modernizing their nuclear arsenals.
Iran's ambassador also highlighted nuclear-related spending of the United States and said Washington spent more than those of other nuclear-armed nations on nuclear weapons.
“In its report, the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Situation of the United States stated that the country will use nuclear weapons if conventional forces do not reach the goals,” he said.
Bahreini also turned attention toward a brazen nuclear threat by the Israeli regime against Gaza and Iran, saying the Israeli prime minister’s statement against the Islamic Republic in September 2023, was a clear violation of the basic principles of international law, including the NPT and the UN Charter.
“I would like to draw your attention to the main source of instability in the Middle East region, which is the Israeli regime. The regime poses a major threat to international and regional peace and security, particularly through its nuclear arsenals as well as its covert and unprotected nuclear facilities and activities”, he issued the warning to the international community.
He clarified that the Israeli regime doesn’t want a region free of weapons of mass destruction as it continues to accumulate all kinds of WMDs without being a member of any binding international document and without being subject to any safeguard or verification mechanism.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian ambassador to Geneva touched on the Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip and said the Zionist regime has continued to openly violate the basic principles of international law, especially humanitarian law.
“These violations include the indiscriminate bombing and shelling of Gaza, the collective punishment of Palestinians, the use of white phosphorus bombs in Gaza and Lebanon, the forced displacement of Palestinians, the deliberate targeting of civilians, especially women and children, as well as critical civilian infrastructure”, he added.
Bahreini said that it is time for the international community to take collective measures to curb and end the heinous crimes of the Israeli regime and its illegal nuclear activities.
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