Iranian FM Urges Global Pressure on Israel to Join Chemical Weapons Pact
FILE – This Friday May 5, 2017 file photo shows the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), The Hague, Netherlands
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Israel remains the sole obstacle to establishing a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and must be forced to join the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), Abbas Araghchi, Iranian foreign minister and head of the Iranian delegation to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), said on Tuesday.The 30th session of the OPCW Conference of States Parties is underway in The Hague from November 24 to 28.
"The Israeli regime must be compelled to accede to the convention and to submit to full-scope inspections as a priority for the OPCW," Araghchi said during the session.
Israel has not joined any disarmament treaties, including the CWC, and remains the “only obstacle” to creating a WMD-free zone in the region, the Iranian foreign minister said. While WMDs are inherently dangerous and inhumane, their possession by “wanted criminals” responsible for “massacre and genocide over the past two years” poses a grave existential threat to humanity and the planet, he said. Araghchi said that the CWC is the most successful disarmament treaty to date but warned that its effectiveness depends on full compliance by all states without exception.
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