IAEA meeting to discuss Israel
Al Jazeera English
07-Jun-2010 (one comment)

The United Nations nuclear agency is expected to discuss Israel's nuclear capabilities at its board of governors meeting in the Austrian capital, Vienna.

It is the first time since 1991 that Israel's nuclear issue is included in the five-day meeting of the International Atomic Engery Agency (IAEA), which began on Monday.

Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher, reporting from Vienna, said an 18-country bloc led by the Arab nations had been pushing for the discussion.

"It's regarded as a bit of a coup that they managed after 19 years of trying to get a discussion about Israel's nuclear capability," he said.

"It's on the agenda and will be discussed at some point during the next two or three days."

Israel, widely believed to have nuclear weapons, has neither denied or acknowledged the claim.

Iran reaction

Iran, which itself is under scrutinity from the IAEA over its nuclear programme, welcomed the coming discussion.

"US, Canada and European Union preferred not to discuss Israel's nuclear capability, but they joined the consensus because they had no other choice," Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, said.

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Dan Huck

Is Amano Speaking For the Vienna Group?

by Dan Huck on Mon Jun 07, 2010 10:40 PM PDT

Since Israel's primary nuclear efforts are totally weapons oriented, and lied about with impunity for more than 40 years, and because they refuse to sign on to the international oversight system, the international community needs to withhold scrutiny of them.


Balatarin
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