Iran asks for global nuclear disarmament

Iran\'s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Gholam Hossein Dehqani urged the world to start immediate efforts to dismantle nuclear weapons worldwide, specially in the Middle-East, and underlined that Israel should sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Dehqani called on all world states, particularly those in the Middle East region, to join the NPT. Addressing the UN\'s \'Middle-East free from nuclear weapons\' meeting, he said Iran has been a member of the NPT since 1974 and has always called for a Mideast free from nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Dehqani said the Zionist regime which is armed with nuclear weapons is a main threat to global and regional security, and urged the Tel Aviv regime to become a member of the NPT. The Iranian envoy underlined the need to exert international pressure on those countries that have not yet been a signatory to the NPT to join the treaty. Israel is believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear arms in the Middle-East with over 200 ready-to-launch warheads in its stockpile.