DUBAI: Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said in remarks published in the press on Monday that the new uranium enrichment plant recently revealed by Iran triggered mounting suspicions .
There are increasing suspicions and the new plant in Qom (southwest of Tehran) signals intentions that should not be allowed, Aboul Gheit told the Saudi-owned daily Asharq Al-Awsat.
The discovery of the plant s existence is a negative development and we believe that Iran should have notified the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) years ago.
He stressed the necessity for the region, including Israel, to be free of nuclear weapons. The Jewish state is widely believed to be the Middle East s only nuclear-armed power, albeit undeclared.
We are not only talking about the Iranian danger but saying that Iran should halt its activities and Israel should abandon its arms, he told the newspaper.
The IAEA announced on Friday that Tehran had told it the Islamic republic was building a second uranium enrichment plant in addition to its existing facility at Natanz.
Iran says the new plant does not violate international law and that concerns raised by the West are baseless.
Governments of the mainly Sunni Arab countries, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are wary of Shiite Iran s nuclear ambitions. -AFP
