He made the remarks in the Quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Thursday evening, Mehr News Agency (MNA) reported.

Gharibabadi explained Iran’s stance on the West Asia (Middle East) nuclear weapons free zone and the Zionist regime’s nuclear capabilities.

Referring to the 50th anniversary of the NPT and regretting that this treaty is still a long way from globalization, he said, “Among those outside the treaty, some have made their accession conditional on the creation of a ‘special atmosphere’ and others are reluctant to do so because of the threat posed by nuclear weapons states.”

“Undoubtedly, after the failure to agree on the final outcome of the Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2015, simply because of the three countries’ protests in support of a non-NPT member, the NPT Review Conference in 2021 will be a strong milestone for the world community to see if multilateralism is still effective in the field of arms control and disarmament,” he added.

Noting that the issue of the NPT and the nuclear-weapon-free Middle East should be addressed without prejudice, he said, “We believe that ignoring such an important issue directly affects regional and international peace and stability, challenges global arms control norms, and undermines the validity and sustainability of the current disarmament and arms control structure, including the IAEA and the safeguards regime,” Gharibabadi highlighted.

“That’s why we emphasize that ignoring the review of the status of the nuclear facilities and the activities of the Israeli regime, especially in the absence of IAEA safeguards, is a very dangerous step,” he added.

He went on to say, “All the countries except regime of Israel in the the West Asia are members of the NPT and has pledged to accept the IAEA’s comprehensive safeguards. Therefore, the regime’s covert acquisition of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to the security and stability of the region and the world.”

Noting that opposition to the Israeli nuclear issue means rejecting all practical steps taken to create a nuclear-weapon-free West Asia region, he said, “We strongly believe that by ignoring legitimate regional and international concerns about the Israeli regime’s refusal to adhere to the NPT, it and its supporters are deliberately violating all international norms and regulations.”

“The immediate and unconditional accession of the Israeli regime to the NPT and the placement of all its nuclear materials, activities and facilities under the Agency’s comprehensive safeguards are necessary steps to alleviate the current nuclear crisis in the West Asia,” Gharibabadi added.

“The Agency should not be influenced by political considerations in this regard and should not, on behalf of one of the parties in the region, describe the political situation in the region in its reports,” he stressed.

“Professional logic therefore requires the Agency to take steps to implement safeguards throughout the West Asia,” he added.

EDF (Électricité de France) said it had disconnected one of two reactors at Fessenheim, along the Rhine near France’s eastern border with Germany and Switzerland, at 2:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) in the first stage of the complete closure of the oldest nuclear plant of France, AFP reported.

The second reactor is to be taken offline on June 30 but it will be several months before the two have cooled enough and the used fuel can start to be removed.

The removal of the fuel is expected to be completed by the summer of 2023 but the plant will only be fully decommissioned by 2040 at the earliest.

Shutting down Fessenheim became a key goal of anti-nuclear campaigners after the catastrophic meltdown at Fukushima in Japan in 2011.

Experts have noted that construction and safety standards at Fessenheim, brought online in 1977, fall far short of those at Fukushima, with some warning that seismic and flooding risks in the Alsace region had been underestimated.

Despite a pledge by ex-president Francois Hollande just months after Fukushima to close the plant, it was not until 2018 that President Emmanuel Macron’s government gave the final green light.

“This marks the first step in France’s energy strategy to gradually rebalance nuclear and renewable electricity sources while cutting carbon emissions by closing coal-fired plants by 2022,” Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said earlier this week.

France will still be left with 56 pressurized water reactors at 18 nuclear power plants – only the United States has more reactors, at 98 – generating an unmatched 70 percent of its electricity needs.

The government confirmed in January that it aims to shut down 12 more reactors nearing or exceeding their original 40-year age limit by 2035 when nuclear power should represent just 50 percent of France’s energy mix.

But at the same time, EDF is racing to get its first next-generation reactor running at its Flamanville plant in 2022 – 10 years behind schedule – and more may be in the pipeline.