In an address to the UN Disarmament Conference in New York on Thursday, President Rouhani described any use of nuclear weapons as a crime against humanity and stressed, “No nation should possess nuclear weapons.”

“As long as nuclear weapons exist, the risk of their use, threat of use and proliferation persists. The only absolute guarantee is their total elimination,” said the Iranian president.

The Iranian chief executive further stated that any attempt short of scrapping all nuclear arms globally would not be acceptable, adding that upgrading weapons of mass destruction is also illegal.

Israel is the only party in the Middle East that has not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), said Rouhani, added that the Israeli regime must immediately join the treaty, which aims to put nuclear weapons under international controls and prevent their proliferation.

Rouhani went on to say that “almost four decades of international efforts to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East have regrettably failed,” calling for efforts to push for a nuclear-free Middle East.

Israel, which is believed to be the sole possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East with 200-400 warheads, has refused to acknowledge that it possesses nuclear weapons and, unlike Iran, is not a signatory to the NPT.

Israel's Arab neighbors say its nuclear weapons threaten peace in the region and have repeatedly called on the regime to join the NPT and allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to visit all its nuclear facilities.

MKA/HMV/SS