an’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on nuclear weapons states across the world to give up their nuclear stockpiles. Zarif wrote in an op-ed published in The Guardian on Friday “I sincerely believe that the nuclear conclusion between my country – a non-nuclear-weapon state – and the 5+1 group (which control almost all nuclear warheads on Earth) is symbolically significant enough to kick-start this paradigm shift and mark the beginning of a new era for the non-proliferation regime.”
He added “One step in the right direction would be to start negotiations for a weapons elimination treaty, backed by a robust monitoring and compliance-verification mechanism.”
Elsewhere in his article, Zarif criticized states having nuclear arsenals, because they “have hardly even talked the talk, while completely brushing off their disarmament obligations under NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) and customary international law.”
He further slammed Zionist regime’s non-compliance with the NPT and its long-standing aggressive campaign against diplomatic efforts by Iran and the 5+1 group to find a solution to the Western dispute with Tehran over its nuclear program.
The Iranian minister wrote “That is to say nothing of countries outside the NPT, or Zionist regime, with an undeclared nuclear arsenal and a declared disdain towards non-proliferation, notwithstanding its absurd and alarmist campaign against the Iranian nuclear deal.”
Zionist regime is widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East and has so far blatantly violated the international rules regarding nuclear non-proliferation.
Zarif also called for the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, and expressed the Islamic Republic’s willingness to cooperate with the international community in this regard.
He said “Iran, in its national capacity and as current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement, is prepared to work with the international community to achieve these goals, knowing full well that, along the way, it will probably run into many hurdles raised by the skeptics of peace and diplomacy.
