The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday unanimously called for a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East but rejected an Arab call to denounce Israel as a nuclear threat.
Israeli atomic energy chief Gideon Frank welcomed the idea of such a zone but said Israel advocates "achieving regional peace and security, not arms control per se."
Egyptian ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy told the conference that the resolution on a weapons-free zone invites Israel, believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, "to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty [NPT] and to accept that its various facilities be subject to the IAEA safeguards system."
Israel has not signed the NPT and neither confirms nor denies reports that it has some 200 atom bombs.
Jordanian ambassador Shebab Madi said: "Unfortunately this resolution will not be sufficient to ensure ... the denuclearization of this region. A policy of double standards will continue throughout the world."
Libyan representative Matouq Mohamed Matouq said: "We should urge Israel to renounce these weapons," and Syrian I. Othman, head of the country's atomic energy commission, said "the first step is for Israel to join the NPT."
Frank said that while Israel thought a weapons-free zone "could eventually serve as a complement to overall efforts to peace and security in the region" it first wanted a general peace agreement.
Frank said Israeli actions, such as its withdrawal from Gaza, had created a "window of opportunity to advancing peace and security in the region."
Confidence-building, as in creating a nuclear-weapons-free zone, "is a long and enduring process," Frank said and should be done in "a manner that does not hamper the security of any participant."
The IAEA conference rejected discussion of "Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat," as proposed in a resolution by Oman, despite a strong push for this by 15 Arab states plus the Palestinian Authority.
The agenda item was put off until next year as part of a compromise that has taken place annually since 1998 in which Arab states drop this agenda request in order to coax Israeli support for a nuclear weapons-free zone.
Emotions were higher this year, however, after the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors found Iran guilty of violating the NPT and threatened to take Tehran to the UN Security Council.
Arab states resent that the IAEA is cracking down on Iran for what the US charges is a covert nuclear weapons program, while US ally Israel avoids such scrutiny.
Meanwhile, Iran may respond by holding back on oil sales if its nuclear program is referred to the UN Security Council, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview published yesterday.
"But if Iran's case is sent to the Security Council, we will respond by many ways, for example by holding back on oil sales," he told the United Arab Emirates' daily, the Khaleej Times.
"We have been extremely cooperative, we have had more than 1,200 man days of inspections, monitoring cameras are everywhere in our facilities," he said.
The IAEA passed a resolution a week ago Saturday recommending Iran be reported in the future to the council for possible sanctions.
Analysts had predicted Iran could use oil as a lever against countries seeking to send Iran to the council.
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