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Tel Aviv expands the Dimona nuclear weapons facility

Dimona nuclear facility. FEB 19, 2021 (Tehran Times)

Recently published satellite images by the International panel on fissile material have revealed that Israel is expanding its Dimona nuclear facility in the Negev desert. Israel has acknowledged the existence of the Dimona nuclear reactor; however it neither confirms nor denies the purpose of the facility.

The site has provided the Israeli regime the material needed for its nuclear arsenal. According to a  report by a nonprofit organization named Federation of American Scientists, published in 2020, Israel possesses close to 100 atomic nuclear warheads that are made from plutonium produced in a Dimona heavy water reactor.

However, other sources have put that figure at 300, with some estimates even going as far as 400 nuclear warheads.

The Israeli regime has a deliberate ambiguity policy on its nuclear arsenal, which means despite being the only possessor of nuclear weapons in West Asia, it always refuses to accept or deny having any.

Israel has always turned a deaf ear to international calls on nuclear transparency, and it has never allowed any inspections of its nuclear facilities.

With the invariable support of Washington the regime has so far defied the international calls to join the non proliferation treaty, or NPT, which aims to halt the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology.

This is all while Israel has constantly accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of weaponization of its peaceful nuclear programme and assassinated several nuclear scientists in recent years; however, Iran has rejected all these accusations, as it was among the first nations to sign the NPT.

IAEA favoritism toward Israel

In January, Iran's Permanent Representative to Vienna based international organizations Kazem Gharibabadi denounced favoritism towards Israel by the International Atomic agency. He said such treatment has given the Israeli regime the audacity to ridicule the watchdog and press ahead with its advancing nuclear weapons program in defiance of international calls.

Israel's possession of nuclear warheads poses a significant threat to regional stability.

The regime has carried out bombing campaigns against Syria for the past few years. It has threatened Iran militarily on numerous occasions. And when it comes to Hezbollah, Israel has repeatedly threatened to destroy the resistance group.

Israel will not allow inspection of nuclear facilities

First of all, they want to keep it as secret as possible but there's another reason for this. It's because it gets, Israel gets a large amount of economic and military aid from the United States, it's the biggest recipient of US aid. And there is a bill that was passed to, I guess, 60, years ago, the Symington amendment which was, which said that we cannot provide aid to any nation that that has a nuclear weapon, and is not part of the non proliferation treaty.

Paul Larudee, Co-founder, Free Palestine Movement

Israel's name has been synonymous with aggression, illegal occupation and war with regional countries as well as other international crimes.

In August 2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Iran with atomic annihilation right from the regimes Dimona atomic weapons facility.

Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, slammed Netanyahu by calling his statement beyond shameless.

The regime is the centre of fabrications against Iran's peaceful nuclear energy program which is subject to round the clock monitoring by the UN.

Israel has made baseless allegations against Iran, saying it is developing nuclear weapons, yet the regime itself owns atomic warheads and refrains from allowing inspections of its facilities.

Unlike Iran, Israel has so far refused to join the non proliferation treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology, in defiance of international pressure.

International duplicity

Several countries have helped out Israel to develop its nuclear arsenal. They have secretly sold the Israeli regime material and expertise to build warheads. These nations include the US, France, Germany, Britain, and even Norway.

Well you can draw the conclusion that perhaps the United States, likes volatile regions, the more death and destruction, the better. It survives, on, on this, it invests extremely heavily in the most powerful military regime on the planet.

Paul Larudee, Co-founder, Free Palestine Movement

However Israel's nuclear weapons project would never have succeeded without a major contribution from France.

Surprisingly, Paris took the toughest line on counter-proliferation when it came to Iran's peaceful nuclear program while at the same time it helped lay the foundations of the Israeli regimes atomic weapons.

Whilst Israel has fabricated accusations against Iran's peaceful nuclear program, Tel Aviv is the only possessor of atomic warheads in the West Asia region.

There have been growing calls for a region free of nuclear weapons. So why then have the US and Europe themselves turned a deaf ear to such demands?


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