Israel signed an agreement Thursday that allows experts from the commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) to carry out inspections and collect data at nuclear monitoring stations in Israeli territory.
The Thursday’s agreement has no connection to the nuclear research facility in Dimona, which remains off-limits to international inspection.
The agreement was signed by the director-general of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, Gideon Frank in Vienna.
Two International Monitoring facilities, out of a total of 300 around the world, have been set up in Israel.
The data is meant to reveal incidents of nuclear testing, be they underground or in the atmosphere.
Israel threatened Thursday to boycott an international conference on a nuclear free Middle East sponsored by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).
Israel demands to drop a paragraph mentioning Israel’s “nuclear capabilities and threat†from a resolution submitted to the conference by the Arab block.
Several Middle Eastern countries including Iran, some non-governmental organizations, and a number of independent experts are scheduled to meet on January 2005. , will be attended by representatives from several Middle Eastern countries including Iran, as well as non-government organizations and a number of independent experts.
The conference is an academic seminar with no binding powers Israel said that if the Arab block resolution is dropped, it would vote in favor of another resolution, calling for extending nuclear monitoring in the Middle East.
