Call to Israel from Qatar
Qatar has reiterated its call for increased international efforts to subject all of Israel's nuclear facilities to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) oversight.
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In a written statement issued by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was stated that Qatar once again voiced this demand during the quarterly session of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting held in Vienna, the capital of Austria.
Jassim Al-Hammadi, Qatar's Permanent Representative to the United Nations and international organizations in Vienna, also stated in his speech at the meeting, "The international community and its institutions must fulfill their commitments to ensure that Israel opens all its nuclear facilities to IAEA oversight, in line with UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, and IAEA resolutions, as well as the decisions of the 1995 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)."
Al-Hammadi noted that all countries in the Middle East, with the exception of Israel, are parties to the NPT and have safeguards agreements in force with the IAEA.
Qatar had previously voiced the same demands at the 67th IAEA General Conference held in Vienna in September 2023.
The quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors was held in Vienna from March 3 to 7.
Israel stands out as the only country in the Middle East that is not a party to the NPT. According to unofficial estimates, it is stated that Israel possesses nuclear weapons capability.
According to 2023 data from the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), it is estimated that Israel possesses approximately 90 nuclear warheads and may have sufficient plutonium capacity to produce 100 to 200 nuclear weapons.
Israel's nuclear program began in the late 1950s with the establishment of a nuclear research center near Dimona in the Negev Desert. This program received support from some Western countries, primarily France. France provided Israel with a nuclear reactor and a reprocessing plant in the late 1950s.
On the other hand, while Western countries maintain their silence regarding Israel's nuclear program, they continue to exert pressure on Iran and North Korea regarding their nuclear activities.