Iran is demanding world powers to give up their nuclear weapons stockpiles, namely Israel.
In an op-ed published by The Guardian on Friday, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif called for an end to a nuclear arms race and a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.
“It is time for the ’haves’ to finally come to terms with a crucial reality; we live in a globalised security environment. The cold war era asymmetry between states that possess nuclear weapons and those that don’t is no longer remotely tolerable,” Mr. Zarif wrote.
“For too long, it has been assumed that the insane concept of mutually assured destruction would sustain stability and non-proliferation. Nothing could be further from the truth,” he added.
In the piece, titled “Iran has signed a historic nuclear deal — now it’s Israel’s turn,” Mr. Zarif touted Iran’s cooperation with world powers to reach a deal to end its nuclear program and admonished Israel for refusing to do the same.
“And while Iran has received the support of some of its Arab friends in the endeavor, Israel — home to the Middle East’s only nuclear weapons program — has been the holdout,” Mr. Zarif wrote. “In the light of the historic nuclear deal, we must address this challenge head on.”
Israel has never confirmed whether it has nuclear weapons.
Mr. Zarif added that Iran and other nuclear “have-nots” have genuinely “walked the walk” in seeking non-proliferation while nuclear states have “hardly even ’talked the talk,’ while completely brushing off their disarmament obligations under the non-proliferation treaty and customary international law.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the American public is gradually opposing the Iran deal as they learn its details.
“This deal, the more you learn about it, the opposition to it increases,” he said during a conference with diplomatic correspondents in Jerusalem.
“The debate in the U.S. is important, and you can see the shift,” he added.
Congress has 60 days left before they must vote on whether to approve the nuclear deal, signed on July 14 in Vienna.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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