“The Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its deep concern over the serious negative implications on security in the region as well as the reliability of the global non-proliferation regime whereby Israeli scientists are generously provided access to the nuclear facilities of a certain nuclear weapon state while nuclear scientists of NPT (the Non-Proliferation Treaty) parties are being assassinated instead,” Reza Najafi, Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in the Austrian capital Vienna on Friday.
Iranian scientists Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, Dariush Rezaeinejad, Professor Majid Shahriari, and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi were all assassinated by Israeli agents, according to Iran.
In January 2012, nuclear scientist Ahmadi Roshan was killed in an assassination attack in Tehran.
In July 2011, unidentified gunmen killed the Iranian scholar Rezaeinejad outside his house in Tehran.
In November 2010, Shahriari was killed in a terrorist attack and Fereydoun Abbasi, the former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, was injured in a separate terrorist incident.
Ali-Mohammadi was also assassinated by a booby-trapped motorbike in the Iranian capital in January 2010.
Iran's IAEA envoy, who is also the head of the NAM group of nations at the UN nuclear agency, further noted that Israel's refusal to comply with the international law poses a security concern for the countries of the Middle East.
Najafi argued that Israel is "ignoring the legitimate concerns of the international community” by refraining from joining the NPT.
He also censured Western countries for turning a blind eye to Israel's nuclear capabilities.
Earlier in the day, Western countries blocked an Arab-backed resolution to the 159-nation IAEA targeting Israel over its clandestine nuclear weapons arsenal.
The draft was put forward by 32 countries during the 57th annual session of the IAEA General Conference in Vienna to criticize Israel's refusal to acknowledge its possession of nuclear weapons.
The proposed resolution was defeated by a vote of 54 to 43, with 32 abstentions. The other 30 countries were absent during the vote.
Meanwhile, in an interview with Press TV, Iranian political analyst Hamid Golpira said that some pressure should be put on Israel over its clandestine nuclear weapons arsenal, and the Tel Aviv regime should be held to account.
He added that Israel should not be allowed to have a free hand, and there should not be double standards with regards to Israel.
Golpira went on to say that while some countries are accused of pursuing a nuclear weapon and they are punished by pressure and sanctions, Israel has conducted at least one nuclear test and is acting in such a manner that it is not joining the NPT or any control mechanisms.
The Israeli regime is widely believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. The regime reportedly maintains between 200 and 400 atomic warheads, but under its policy of so-called nuclear ambiguity, it has never denied nor confirmed its possession of the weapons of mass destruction.
Furthermore, Tel Aviv has never allowed any inspection of its nuclear facilities and continues to defy international calls to join