Islam Times - 'Israel must sign the NPT'

(Islam Times) - Egypt has declared that turning the Middle East into a nuclear weapons-free zone is the key to solving the dispute over Iran's nuclear program and said Israel must sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Islam Times reports from PressTv: "Success in dealing with Iran will depend to a large extent on how successfully we deal with the establishment of a nuclear-free zone" in the Middle East, Egypt's Ambassador to the UN, Maged Abdel Aziz, told a luncheon briefing with reporters in New York on Tuesday.

Egypt is to present a working paper at the NPT review conference, which opens at the UN headquarters in New York next week, urging implementation of a 1995 resolution calling for the establishment of a nuclear weapons-free Middle East.

The paper calls on NPT members to "renew their resolve to undertake, individually and collectively, all necessary measures aimed at the prompt implementation of the resolution, including the accession by Israel to the treaty as soon as possible as a non-nuclear weapon state.”

Israel should also place all its nuclear facilities under the full scope of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards, it adds.

Although there is no linkage between the Iranian and Israeli nuclear issues, both should be dealt with simultaneously, the Egyptian envoy said.

He also expressed hope that Israel would take part in the NPT review conference.

Israel has never publicly acknowledged that it possesses nuclear weapons, but it is believed to have an arsenal of at least 250 nuclear warheads.