Pars Today

Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami has urged the UN nuclear watchdog to notify the United Nations Security Council about the consequences of the possible use of nuclear weapons by the Israeli regime against Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

According to Press TV, Eslami made the plea in a letter to Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, on Thursday, days after far-right Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said using an atomic bomb against the Palestinian people in Gaza was an "option" and insisted that allowing any humanitarian aid into the blockaded area was wrong.

Iran’s nuclear chief categorically condemned Israel’s crimes and brutal onslaught against Gazans, demanding a firm reaction to the recent threatening statement by the illegal entity’s minister about nuking the coastal silver and reflection of its consequences to the UN Security Council.

Eslami also pointed to other "similar alarming threats" made by Moshe Feiglin, a former Knesset member, and also by Tally Gotliv, a Knesset member, on social media platform X.

“Needless to mention, the Israeli regime is not a party to any of the treaties governing nuclear disarmament and prohibition of the Weapons of Mass Destruction particularly NPT. This regime has prevented achieving the goal of a West Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone,” Eslami wrote.

"Additionally, Israel has not placed its nuclear facilities under the Agency`s safeguards regime and also it has a clandestine program to develop nuclear weapons. Therefore, the Israeli regime by undermining the internationally recognized principles directly weakens the effectiveness and efficiency of the NPT as well as the IAEA safeguards regime," he added. 

The threats "revealed that the regime possesses nuclear weapons," he said, adding that by threatening the oppressed and helpless people of Gaza, the regime has "challenged the fundamental principles of the International Humanitarian Law." 

"Although many countries and nations have condemned and stigmatized these brutal actions, it is expected that the Agency, according to its statutory duties, while condemning these statements which are contrary to the International Law, reflects dangerous consequences of use or threat to use of nuclear weapons posed by this fake regime to the United Nations Security Council," Eslami noted.

Eliyah's threat of using a nuclear bomb against the residents of Gaza has over the past days faced harsh criticism from other Iranian authorities.

Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran’s Permanent Ambassador to the UN, called on the international community to push Israel to fully cooperate with the UN nuclear agency and dismantle its nuclear weapons program amid the regime's brutal aggression on the besieged area.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and Foreign Ministry's Spokesman Nasser Kan'ani also strongly condemned Israel’s threat of nuking Gaza.

Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about possessing nuclear weapons, is estimated to harbor 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia.

ME