JNS.org – During an address at the United Nations on Monday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Israel is a threat to the Middle East because of its purported nuclear weapons arsenal.

Speaking on behalf of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement at a meeting of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Zarif demanded that Israel “renounce” its alleged nuclear weapons arsenal.

Israel maintains ambiguity regarding its nuclear program, neither confirming nor denying that it has nuclear weapons. Israel has sent an observer to the month-long NPT conference for the first time in decades.

Zarif said the non-aligned states view Israel’s nuclear arsenal as “a serious and continuing threat to the security of neighboring and other states, and condemned Israel for continuing to develop and stockpile nuclear arsenals,” Reuters reported.