UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23, (KUNA): The State of Kuwait called on the international community to squeeze Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Speaking at a UN disarmament and international security meeting late Friday, Kuwait’s permanent UN delegation member Ghazi Al-Fadhli said: “Kuwait calls on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to join the NPT as a non-nuclear party and to agree to subject its nuclear facilities to all-out IAEA safeguards.”

He urged all NPT member states not to cooperate with Israel in the nuclear domain and to stop supplying it with scientific and technological means that could contribute to boosting its nuclear weaponry, or even with any other country seeking to produce or develop nuclear weapons.

He stressed that the Middle East region, which is a key flashpoint in the world, should be cleared of nuclear weapons, noting that all countries of the region, save Israel, are NPT member states.
Concerning Iran’s controversial nuclear dossier, Al-Fadhli said it is the right of Kuwait and other countries to conduct studies, research and tests targeting for the peaceful usage of nuclear energy, provided that IAEA criteria and requirements are fulfilled.

But, he hoped that negotiations to be re-launched between Iran and UN Security Council member states soon could lead to a peaceful settlement that would spare the already volatile region further tensions.
Nuclear weapons not only pose a threat to international security and peace, but threaten humanity as well, he argued.