IAEA passes resolution on Israeli nuclear issue

One senior official of the IAEA, who declined to be named, told Xinhua News Agency Tuesday that it was the first time in nearly 20 years that the IAEA passed a resolution directly addressing Israel's nuclear program.

The non-binding resolution was passed by a 49-45 margin with 16 abstentions. It will lead people to pay more attention to the Israeli nuclear issue, on which views have long been divided in the international community.

Israel not only has conventional military superiority in the Middle East, but is widely suspected to possess nuclear weapons, including land, air and sea three-dimensional nuclear strike capability.

Israeli government neither confirms nor denies its military nuclear capacity as a matter of policy.

The Jewish state is also the only country in the region that is not a signatory to the NPT and therefore accepts only limited IAEA inspection.

After the official resolution was passed, Iran's Ambassador Ali Asghar Soltanieh said the vote was "a triumph, a glorious moment" which "made us see the hope that the West would adjust their policies."

Israel's delegate David Danieli said his country would not cooperate with this resolution.

"This resolution will only aggravate the political conflict and division in the Middle East region", he said.

Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, also opposed the resolution, arguing that after Thursday's resolution calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was adopted, there was no need for a separate one on Israel.

They also said it was unfair and counterproductive to isolate one member state; Kazinform cites China Daily. See www.chinadaily.com.cn for full version.