Araghchi raps UN chief ‘audacious’ remarks on Iran’s nuclear program
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reacted to recent remarks by UN chief on Iran’s nuclear activities, describing them as “audacious.”
Araghchi took to the X on Thursday, saying that Iran has shown its long-standing commitment to the global nonproliferation regime to the world.
He blasted UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for preaching the Islamic Republic, which is pursuing a civilian nuclear program as a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the US-abandoned 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“Here, my hope is that the Iranians understand that it is important to once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons, at the same time that they engage constructively with the other countries of the region,” Guterres said on Wednesday while addressing a meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The Iranian foreign minister also highlighted a fatwa (religious decree) by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei that bans the production, possession and stockpiling of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
“It is audacious to preach that Iranians must once and for all make it clear that they will renounce to have nuclear weapons.”
The top Iranian diplomat also noted that the most relevant question in the region is Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, as well as the regime’s occupation of Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese territory.
He further warned of the threat posed by Israel’s actual nuclear arsenal and refusal to join the NPT.
Israel is estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia.