JERUSALEM, Israel - Israeli leaders are protesting a move by Iran and Arab League states to isolate Israel in the International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations watchdog commission.

Iran and its allies hope to advance a resolution called "Israel's Nuclear Capabilities," which discourages the testing and production of atomic weapons and proposes that no country should stand in the way of making the Middle East a "nuclear-free zone."

Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle East nation possessing a nuclear arsenal.

Israeli officials condemned the resolution, calling it "substantially unwarranted and flawed." Israel Atomic Energy Commission Director-General Shaul Chorev refuted the sponsors' moral authority to put forth such a resolution.

"Among sponsors of this draft resolution are states which openly do not recognize the state of Israel and even call for its annihilation," he said. "What is the moral standing of sponsors of this agenda item who do not recognize Israel's right to exist while criticizing Israeli policies aimed at securing its very existence?" he asked.

Chorev reaffirmed Israel's desire that the Middle East be a nuclear-free zone, but not until states have mutual recognition of the right to exist and can carry out modest arms control measures.

Source: YNet News