Egypt is calling on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate Israel over its nuclear program in the country, which Egypt says is in violation of nuclear non-proliferation treaties. Israel continues to refuse the IAEA from entering the country for inspections, which Egypt says could threaten the Middle East's security as Iran begins what is currently a peaceful nuclear program. An Egyptian official was reported by Kuwait's news agency on Monday calling on an IAEA official to inspect Israel's program. Israel is not a signatory of the 1995 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and NPT members have called on all Middle East countries to accept the international agreement and end nuclear weapons in the region. The Kuwait News Agency quoted Egyptian Energy Minister Hassan Younis as telling delegates to the IAEA General Conference that Israel is known to have nuclear weapons even as it denies their presence. A handful of nuclear scientists in Israel have been jailed by the government there in the past few decades for publicly acknowledging the program. In a bid to advance regional arms control dialogues, Arab countries have reportedly agreed not to pursue a resolution at the IAEA conference urging Jerusalem to sign onto the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Similar measures on “Israeli Nuclear Capabilities” were pursued at the 2009 and 2010 meetings; the earlier measure passed, but last year's resolution was narrowly defeated. Israel abides by a longstanding policy of neither confirming nor denying it possesses a nuclear deterrent. The United States and other Western powers have argued that targeting Israel over its nuclear arms would be likely to undermine efforts to prohibit weapons of mass destruction from the region, according to previous reports. The Egyptian official, though, called for the Vienna, Austria-based organization to circulate details on Israeli atomic sites suited for supervision to ensure they are not turned toward weapons operations. This week's IAEA meeting must affirm the UN nuclear watchdog's mandate to implement the nonproliferation regime and address atomic dangers in the Persian Gulf region and elsewhere, Younis said. To that end, Egypt has proposed a measure on implementing IAEA inspections in the Middle East with a goal of achieving comprehensive accession to the treaty, he said. Younis voiced a desire for progress at an IAEA meeting slated for November on regional nuclear-weapon bans, as well as a conference planned for 2012 on creating a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. BM
