Iran Blames Israel and USA for Nuclear Proliferation as Nuclear Weapons Votes Held at UN

On October 27, 2016, the United Nations Disarmament and International Security Committee began voting on a series of draft resolutions dealing with nuclear weapons. Among the draft resolutions were two dealing with the Middle East, entitled "Establishment of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in the Region of the Middle East" submitted by Egypt, and "The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East," cosponsored by numerous Arab countries.

The Egyptian resolution was adopted without a vote. Unusually for the subject, it made no explicit reference to Israel.

The second resolution, on nuclear proliferation, is set for a vote on October 28, 2016. It singles out Israel, calling on it to place all of its nuclear facilities under the International Atomic Energy Agency's "safeguards." No mention is made of Iran and its repeated non-compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it had signed and ratified prior to its program to attain nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, Iran submitted a statement on the subject in which it accused the "Israeli regime" and the United States as the "only obstacle to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, while blaming the "aggressive and expansionist policies of the Israeli regime" as the sources of "serious threats posed to regional and international peace and security."