Israel/Iran - nuclear talks

Iran denies secretly meeting Israel for nuclear talks

Article published on the 2009-10-22 Latest update 2009-10-22 12:20 TU

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
( Photo: Reuters )

Iran denied on Thursday that its nuclear officials secretly met with Israeli nuclear officials last month in Cairo to discuss the possibility of a nuclear-free Middle East. An official with the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission said earlier that the talks had taken place, but declined to give details of the meeting.

Spokesperson Yael Doron told AFP newswire that the talks had been organised by Australia.

The two enemies had not been in direct contact since the Shah of Iran was deposed in 1979.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Meirav Zafary-Odiz, the director of policy and arms control for the Israeli nuclear agency and Ali Asghar Soltanieh, the Iranian delegate to the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency met several times at the end of September.

The Israeli daily also reported that the talks were held in the presence of other IAEA members, notably Jordanian, Egyptian, Tunisian Moroccan, Saudi, American, and European Union delegates.

Israel is in possession of nuclear arms, according to nuclear experts, who believe that it holds up to 200 nuclear warheads as well as a nuclear reactor in Dimona. Israel has never declared or denied this.

The Jewish state has never ruled out military intervention in order to stop Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Iran has consistently denied that it possesses nuclear weapons, insisting that its programme is only for peaceful purposes.