Iranian Defense Minister for Freeing the Mid East from WMD

Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani underlined importance of freeing the Middle East from weapons of mass destruction (WMD), asserting necessity of curbing Israel which seeks to develop its nuclear capabilities and WMD.

In an interview published by Iranian newspaper of "Sharq" on Monday, Shamkhani said that America has committed a strategic mistake by providing Israel with the nuclear weapons, pointing out that the U.S. is a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty ( NPT) and has no right to transfer this technology to Israel.

"Iran adopted a strategy of not possessing WMD through signing the appendix protocol of the NPT," Shamkhani said, asserting that the states that possess such weapons should pledge not to attack other countries and to defend them in case they face a nuclear attack in accordance with the NPT decisions.