Iran renews call for nuclear-free Middle East

Tokyo, Dec 27, IRNA - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs on Friday renewed the call for making the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction.

Mohammad-Mehdi Akhoundzadeh arrived in Japan on December 24 at the
invitation of Japan's Deputy Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae to
attend a joint consulting political committee.

Speaking to the Japanese reporters at the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo, he said, "Iran is, like Japan, a victim of the atomic and chemical
weapons and that is why Tehran has consistently kept opposing to
development of any weapons of mass destruction worldwide." He stressed that Iran's peaceful nuclear activities were all under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency as is the case for Japan.

Reiterating the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program,
Akhoundzadeh said, "like Japan, Iran has the right too to pursue its
peaceful nuclear program based on the IAEA's regulations." Referring
to the US double standard policy on nuclear issue, the diplomat said, Washington's opposition to Iran's peaceful nuclear activities has political root and must change.

Akhoundzadeh expressed hope that the US president-elect Barack Obama
would "positively respond to the expectation of the international community for putting an end to the US unilateralism and hegemony worldwide."

Commenting on the threats made by the Zionist regime against Iran, the diplomat said, "They are all psychological warfare and rhetoric to mislead world public opinion from Israel's savage acts in Gaza Strip."

"However, Iran is not an easy target" for the Zionist regime,
Akhoundzadeh said stressing that "using the language of force and
weapon is no longer effective to speak with other nations." "What is
happening in Gaza Strip is more like an ethnic cleansing since more
than one million of Palestinian are deprived of receiving food and
medical supplies and are left alone in tragic conditions," he said.


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