Arab states ask IAEA to disarm Israel

Arab diplomats signaled on Tuesday they would seek to step up pressure on Israel over its nuclear arsenal.

Arab countries, angry at the lack of movement in efforts to move towards a Middle East free of nuclear weapons, have served notice they plan to target Israel for criticism at the UN atomic agency’s annual member state gathering in September.

 In a letter to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano, posted on the UN agency’s web site, 18 Arab member states asked for “Israeli nuclear capabilities” to be included as an agenda item of the Sept. 16-20 gathering in the Austrian capital.

The IAEA meeting “must take appropriate measures to ensure that Israel places all its nuclear installations under agency safeguards and accedes to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” the letter, dated in June, said.