The United States along with Britain and Canada blocked on Friday a plan to set up a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East during a nuclear non-proliferation conference.

The United States along with Britain and Canada blocked on Friday a plan to set up a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East during a nuclear non-proliferation conference.

More than 150 countries took part in a month-long conference reviewing the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology.

But talks on a final document outlining an action plan for the next five years hit a wall after the United States announced that there was "no agreement" and accused Arab countries of torpedoing the nuclear disarmament negotiations.

The talks ended in failure after the US and its allies, Canada and Britain rejected a proposal made by Arab countries to establish a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East by March 2016.

US Arms Control Under Secretary Rose Gottemoeller told the NPT conference that provisions on holding the conference were "incompatible with our long-standing policies."

Gottemoeller argued that the proposed nuclear-free zone did not stand a chance of success "absent the consent of all states involved," a clear reference to Israel's opposition.

Earlier this week, the US administration had dispatched an envoy to Israel to discuss the proposal, hoping to reach a compromise that would have salvaged the final document of the NPT conference.

Israel, which is not a member of the NPT but attended the conference as an observer, opposed the proposal backed by Egypt and Arab countries.

The Zionist entity is believed to be the only country that possesses a nuclear arsenal in the region.