Syria echoes Arab calls for Israel to join nuclear nonproliferation treaty

September 25th, 2009 Egypt warns of Mideast nuclear arms raceUNITED NATIONS — Egypt's foreign minister warned Friday that a nuclear-capable Israel and an Iran pursuing nuclear weapons could trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in an interview with the Associated Press that Iran has a right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy but it must be verified.

September 24th, 2009 Key elements in UN nuclear resolutionKey elements in the resolution adopted unanimously Thursday by the U.N. Security Council: NUCLEAR-FREE Resolved "to create the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons." COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY Urged all states to ratify the treaty, which outlaws all nuclear tests everywhere.

September 24th, 2009 NEW YORK - UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon demanded Thursday that the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) be implemented as quickly as possible. At the opening of a two-day conference of around 100 foreign ministers in New York, Ban called for all of the nine states which had not yet ratified the treaty to begin negotiations immediately.

September 18th, 2009 Nuclear conference criticizes Israeli nukesVIENNA — Overriding Western objections, a 150-nation nuclear conference on Friday passed a resolution directly criticizing Israel and its atomic program for the first time in 18 years. Iran hailed the vote as a "glorious moment." The result was a setback not only for Israel but also for the United States and other backers of the Jewish state, which had lobbied for 18 years of past practice — debate on the issue without a vote.

September 11th, 2009 APNewsBreak: US proposes nuclear resolution at UNUNITED NATIONS — The United States circulated a draft U.N. resolution Friday calling for stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons which it hopes will be adopted by world leaders at a meeting later this month chaired by President Barack Obama.

August 21st, 2009 RIYADH - Israel has said that it is aware about Saudi Arabia's plans to build nuclear power plants. The Saudi newspaper Al-Watan quoted the country's Minister of Water and Electricity, Abdullah al-Hosain, as saying the kingdom was working on plans for its first nuclear power plant.

August 13th, 2009 Arabs ask for EU support on Israel nuke resolutionVIENNA — Arab states are lobbying the European Union for support in their drive to force Israel to open up its secretive nuclear program to international perusal, documents made available to The Associated Press show. In a letter addressed to Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, Amre Moussa, secretary general of the 22-nation League of Arab States, urges Sweden to back an Arab resolution entitled "Israel's Nuclear Capabilities." The document is to be submitted for a vote at next month's 150-nation general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

July 31st, 2009 JERUSALEM - Israel has sought help from the US to build a nuclear power plant in the country, a media report said Friday. Israel has already conveyed its request to the US, the Ynet news service reported.

June 25th, 2009 Nixon administration pressured Israel on nukesWASHINGTON — Inside the Nixon administration four decades ago, American officials weighed options to pressure Israel to declare that it had a nuclear weapons program. U.S. officials concluded Israel was "actively working to improve its capability to produce nuclear weapons on short notice." In an unsigned National Security Council memo, prepared sometime between April 1969 and March 1970, officials worried that the program might make elusive peace with the Arabs even harder to attain.

June 18th, 2009 VIENNA - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei lashed out at Israel Thursday over its lack of cooperation in uncovering the truth about an alleged nuclear reactor in Syria. Israel bombed the suspected al-Kibar nuclear site in 2007 without first informing the IAEA.

June 7th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Israel Sunday urged the international community to take determined action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The Israeli foreign ministry also questioned the UN nuclear watchdog's ability to monitor Iran's nuclear programme.

May 8th, 2009 Delegates take key step in nuclear treaty reviewUNITED NATIONS — Delegates preparing for a major conference next year to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty have agreed on an agenda, and some said the change in President Barack Obama's tone and emphasis was a key factor. Obama's pledge last month to reduce and eventually eliminate nuclear weapons — a major reversal from former President George W.

May 7th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Israel has said that it has the capability to deter and defend itself against any threat or possible combination of threats. Israel's policy of ambiguity with regard to its undeclared nuclear capability is not likely to change in the near future.

May 6th, 2009 Obama: Tougher treaty to halt nuke weapons neededUNITED NATIONS — President Barack Obama urged delegates at a U.N. meeting to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty so it can deal with the threats of nuclear terrorism and the spread of nuclear weapons.

March 2nd, 2009 TEHRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday called for a stronger alliance with Syria in a bid to resist Israel and its allies over the Palestinian crisis. In a meeting with visiting Syrian Prime Minister Mahmoud Naji Otri, Ahmadinejad praised the two countries' position on the international and regional issues, particularly the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.