Iranian Diplomat Brands Israel Main Threat to Region
An Iranian deputy foreign minister slammed the Zionist regime of Israel as the greatest threat to the Middle East region by possessing hazardous stockpiles of chemical and nuclear weapons.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs Hossein Amir Abdollahian held a meeting with head of a United Nations-mandated body tasked with identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in the Syrian civil war.
In the Wednesday meeting, the Iranian diplomat reiterated that Iran, itself the biggest victim of chemical weapons, considers any use of weapons of mass destruction, including the chemical ones, as religiously prohibited.
“With its atomic and chemical stockpiles, the Zionist regime (of Israel) is the main threat to the region,” he added.
Amir Abdollahian further highlighted the Syrian government’s measures on the disarmament of chemical weapons, saying that the move showed that Damascus has acted "responsibly" about the issue.
The Iranian diplomat further deplored the employment of chemical agents and poisonous gas by the terrorists and armed groups in the Arab country.
For her part, Virginia Gamba, said the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism on Chemical Weapon Use in Syria needs assistance from all UN members, including Iran, for its mission.
She also hailed Tehran for its constructive role in the settlement of crisis in Syria.
Syria has been gripped by civil war since March 2011 with Takfiri terrorists, including Daesh, currently controlling parts of it, mostly in the east.
The Syrian conflict has killed at least 450,000 people, according to the UN, and more than half of Syria’s pre-war population of 22.4 million has been internally displaced or fled abroad.
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