Saudi, Zionist, British Claims Against Iran ‘Unfounded’

UNITED NATIONS (KI) -- An Iranian envoy to the United Nations has strongly rejected “unfounded” allegations made by representatives of the occupying regime of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the UK about the country’s peaceful nuclear program.
Iran’s Representative to the UN General Assembly First Committee Heidar Ali Balouji dismissed as “fake news” the accusations made against the country during the 77th session of the committee in New York on October 25.
“The dissemination of fake news and unfounded accusations against regional actors, including through the pursuit of widespread and systematic disinformation and Iranophobic campaigns, has long been a standard practice of the Israeli regime,” said the envoy.
The remarks came after a Zionist representative claimed “Iran was the biggest threat to the region and beyond,” accusing Iran of proliferating “arms of all kinds” and spreading “terror” without providing any evidence.
The Iranian diplomat said the occupying regime’s attempts aim to “whitewash the destabilizing policies and criminal practices of that regime in such a volatile region as the Middle East,” referring to a list of Israeli brutalities in the region, including 15 wars in seven decades, aggression against all neighbors, and occupation of lands in Palestine, Syria, and Lebanon.
Balouji also pointed to the “destructive and destabilizing” practices of the Zionist regime, including “the massive accumulation of the most sophisticated conventional weapons, the development and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction as well as clandestine nuclear activities in unsafeguarded nuclear facilities.”
“The Israeli regime was the only entity in the region that refused to accede to the NPT or to the Biological and Chemical Weapons Conventions. Chemical weapons had been frequently and massively used in the region,” he stressed.

Elsewhere, the Iranian diplomat rejected concerns voiced by Saudi diplomat Wajdi Hassan Muharram about what he called as Iran’s non-compliance with its nuclear undertakings.
“Iran is upholding its commitments,” Balouji said, calling on Riyadh to “meet the long-lasting request of the IAEA” to ensure a safeguarded nuclear program.
Saudi Arabia’s nuclear ambitions have prompted worries in the global community over the past few years, especially after Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman hinted in 2018 that the kingdom may go for nukes.
“If there is any real concern about regional security, Saudi Arabia should start by considering the implications of its policies and actions for the region,” the Iranian diplomat said.
Balouji also used the floor to denounce allegations by a British envoy that Iran had taken “unprecedented steps to accelerate the pace of its nuclear program, producing enriched uranium, including highly enriched uranium, at an alarming pace.”
The Iranian diplomat said the UK has failed to live up to its commitments in relation to “nuclear disarmament under article VI of the NPT” as well as the 2015 nuclear deal and hence has no moral ground on raising the issue.
The UK is “in flagrant non-compliance not just by disobeying this responsibility, but also by strengthening its nuclear arsenal, participation in nuclear sharing, and signing together with the USA, the Aukus deal, all of which have seriously complicated its non-proliferation obligation,” said the diplomat.