IAEA board puts spotlight on Israel's nuclear weapons

Palestine/Israel
Source Agence France-Presse

Arab states criticized Israel Thursday at a meeting of the UN atomic watchdog, calling on the country to come clean about its nuclear capability and open up to global scrutiny. Arab countries had succeeded–despite objections by the United States–in having an item entitled "Israeli nuclear capabilities" included on the agenda of a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency here. It was the first time since 1991 that the issue has included for discussion by the IAEA's 35-member board. Israel, a member of the IAEA but not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), is widely believed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, with around 200 warheads, but has maintained a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its capabilities. Speaking on behalf of the Arab group, Sudan's ambassador to the IAEA Mahmoud al-Amin told the closed-door session that Israel was a "nuclear danger."