Israel on IAEA general conference agenda

By: Anjum Kermani

VIENNA, Austria: The United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency, opened on Monday its 48th annual general conference that sets overall goals for the atomic monitoring body but is also a setting for Arab countries to attack Israel for allegedly possessing nuclear weapons.

Mark Gwozdecky, spokesman for the Vienna-based IAEA said the week-long conference mainly endorses decisions made by the IAEA's executive arm, the 35-nation board of governors, which last week called on Iran to fully suspend uranium enrichment and submit to a review in November of its alleged nuclear weapons program.

Still, the discussion on Israel should be heated.

A Western diplomat close to the IAEA said Middle Eastern states have in the past used the conference as a forum to vent their frustration over Iran being attacked for alleged nuclear capabilities while the IAEA does not act against Israel, which is believed to have developed nuclear weapons and has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The 137-country IAEA is at its conference to consider “Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat,” according to the agenda.

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