Iran Press/ Iran news: Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized Benjamin Netanyahu for his baseless claims against Iran and said, Israel is in no position to level such accusations against Iran.
“Benjamin Netanyahu must explain how Israel, as the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East region, can put itself in a position to level such brazen accusations against a country whose nuclear program has been repeatedly declared peaceful by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),” Zarif told IRNA.
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Zarif said Netanyahu’s move is only aimed at deflecting attention from the fact that the Israeli regime is "the biggest threat to the Middle East" given that he stands by a nuclear weapons facility and threatens other states with atomic annihilation.
"The Tel Aviv regime will never manage to achieve anything by playing such games,” the Iranian foreign minister added.
“We have seen in recent days the extent of the US' isolation at the UN General Assembly and the Security Council as a result of the policies Netanyahu has imposed on Washington. Now imagine how isolated the Israelis themselves are when they have managed to haul the US into such isolation," Zarif stated.
In a tweet on Thursday, Zarif said, Israel is only regime in our region with a *secret* and *undeclared* nuclear weapons program.
The Iranian foreign minister’s comments came after the Israeli prime minister once again took the stage at the UN on Thursday to put on another spectacle about Iran's nuclear program, repeating his threadbare allegation that the country is working to develop nuclear weapons at "secret" sites.
As already expected, Netanyahu used a map and photographs of a building that he claimed was a "secret atomic weapons warehouse" in the Iranian capital, Tehran, to justify his false accusations during his speech on Thursday at the 73rd annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
"In May we exposed the site of Iran's secret atomic archive. Today, I'm revealing the site of a second facility; Iran's secret atomic warehouse," claimed the Israeli PM, who added, "Iran has not abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons."
During his anti-Iran rant, Netanyahu further slammed the European Union for firmly supporting the nuclear accord after Washington -- influenced by intense Israeli lobbying -- scrapped the international document.
"While the United States is confronting Iran with new sanctions, Europe and others are appeasing Iran by trying to help it bypass those new sanctions," Netanyahu said, referring to EU efforts to compensate for Washington's absence and keep Iran in the deal.
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The claims came while Iran has drawn the praise of the world community for remaining fully committed to its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers despite Washington's much-criticized withdrawal from the international document.
Iran's compliance with the deal has been verified in numerous reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the UN's nuclear watchdog, which uses strict mechanisms to monitor the technical aspect of the agreement's implementation.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi strongly dismissed Netanyahu’s UN show as “ridiculous” and a fabricated scenario aimed at making up for the failed US and Israeli smear campaign against Iran at the UN General Assembly.
“The occupying regime [of Israel] must know that in the new era, the world will only laugh out loud at such false, inconsiderate and empty remarks and fake shows,” Qassemi told journalists on Thursday.
He referred to the IAEA as the only body responsible for dealing with nuclear issues, saying that 12 reports issued by the UN atomic watchdog and verified by the global community and all relevant parties have so far confirmed Iran’s commitment to its obligations under the 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
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While it is widely believed that Israel possesses a sizable nuclear arsenal, there is no definite information about how big the stockpile is.
The illegal Zionist entity is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal. The regime, which pursues a policy of so-called deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear bombs, however, refuses to either accept or deny having the weapons.
The UN nuclear watchdog IAEA has on several occasions verified peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), to which Iran has remained committed since it went into force.
Iran, among the first countries to sign the NPT, has long called for the establishment of a nuke-free Middle East, describing Zionist regime as the sole obstacle to the goal.
After Washington's May 8 exit from the historic Iran Deal, the US gave 90 to 180 wind-down period to other countries before it starts re-imposing oil sanctions on Tehran on November 4.
Part of the US illegitimate sanctions were imposed on Iran on August 9.Trump also said he would reinstate the US nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose “the highest level” of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.
Recently, US Secretary of State talked about a "maximum pressure campaign" targeting Iran that will support protests in this country.
Pompeo along with US national security adviser, John Bolton has been a vocal critic of the Iran and the internationally negotiated Iran nuclear deal of 2015 and advocated immediate regime change.
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