Kolkata: The hostilities between Iran and Israel are showing no signs of slowing down. Rather, it is escalating with each passing day. Amid such a scenario, 21 Arab and African nations have called for the urgent creation of a “Middle East Zone free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction”.
Among the countries who signed are Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkey, Jordan, Bahrain, Pakistan, Mauritania, Algeria, Iraq, Libya, Oman, Kuwait, Somalia, Sudan, Comoros, Djibouti, Chad, Brunei, and Gambia.
On June 17, the foreign ministers of those nations appealed to all countries in the region to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and described it as an important step towards stability and peace for a long time. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty first took the initiative which led to the statement. It was drawn up after consulting with his counterparts in the Middle East. The statement expresses a growing alarm over a “dangerous escalation of Israeli military action against Iran”.
In the statement, the nations have demanded an end to Israel’s hostilities and emphasised the need for de-escalation and a comprehensive ceasefire. The statement stressed “the urgent necessity of establishing a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, which shall apply to all States in the region without exception, in line with relevant international resolutions.”
Joint Statement
🔗⬇️https://t.co/5tOnXObHo4 pic.twitter.com/uC7S2Kq11e
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan (@ForeignOfficePk) June 16, 2025
It also called for negotiations between Iran and Israel to reach a sustainable agreement regarding the nuclear programme of the former. Notably, Iran is a signatory of the NPT while Israel is the only Middle Eastern country that has not signed it. The statement also called Israel’s strikes in Iran a violation of international law and the charter of the United Nations. It issued a warning that if the conflict escalates, the entire region could become embroiled in instability which will undermine prospects for peace.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has claimed to have struck a key Mossad intelligence centre in Tel Aviv, according to an AFP report. Mossad is Israel’s foreign intelligence agency. In a statement aired on Iranian state television, the IRGC said it had targeted “the military intelligence centre of the Zionist regime’s army, Aman, and the Zionist regime’s terrorist operations planning centre, the Mossad,” adding that the facility was “currently on fire.”
