Iran signed historic nuclear deal, now it's Israel’s turn

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has called on Israel and the world's eight other states with nuclear weapons to begin disarming, in response to his country's acceptance of strict curbs on its nuclear program in an agreement reached earlier this month.

In an article published on The Guardian Friday, Zarif argues that by agreeing to the Vienna deal, titled the joint comprehensive plan of action, Iran was honoring the spirit of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), in which states without nuclear weapons promise not to acquire them. But he says the nuclear weapons states are not keeping their side of the bargain by disarming.

"The cold war-era asymmetry between states that possess nuclear weapons and those that don't is no longer tolerable," the minister writes, claiming Iran had "walked the walk" on non-proliferation.

"Meanwhile, states actually possessing these destructive weapons have hardly even talked the talk, while completely brushing off their disarmament obligations under NPT and customary international law. That is to say nothing of countries outside the NPT, or Israel, with an undeclared nuclear arsenal and a declared disdain towards non-proliferation, notwithstanding its absurd and alarmist campaign against the Iranian nuclear deal."

Zarif makes three proposals: for negotiations to begin on a nuclear weapons elimination treaty; that this should lead initially to nuclear arsenals being taken off high alert readiness (for example, by removing warheads from missiles); and for the creation of a zone in the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction.

However, efforts to agree on further steps towards disarmament and the creation of a WMD-free zone in the region failed at a global conference in May to reinvigorate the NPT, which ended in acrimony. With his commentary, Zarif is signalling Iran's willingness, with the Vienna deal under its belt and as the current chairman of the Non-Aligned Movement (a group that still functions on nuclear issues), to take on the leadership of the campaigns for disarmament and the WMD-free zone.

Zarif said the campaign "will probably run into many hurdles raised by the sceptics of peace and diplomacy. But we must endeavour to convince and persist, as we did in Vienna".