Israel’s nuclear program is endangering the entire Middle East, an Iranian official said on Wednesday, adding that Iran had been advocating a nuclear-free region since before 1979’s Islamic Revolution

Israel's nuclear program is endangering the entire Middle East, an Iranian official said on Wednesday, adding that Iran had been advocating a nuclear-free region since before 1979's Islamic Revolution.

Speaking at the United Nation's Annual Conference of the Disarmament Commission, Iran's envoy to the UN Mohammad Khaza’ie was quoted by Iran's official IRNA news agency as saying that Israel's non-membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was destabilizing the region.

"Under such conditions that the nuclear program of a non-NPT member [Israel] is threatening the regional and international peace and security so seriously," Khaza’ie said, adding that "in order to encounter this problem effectively Iran proposed establishing a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the year 1974."

Referring to the prospect of a nuclear-free Middle East, Iran's envoy to the UN said that "efforts aimed at establishing such as region have been unsuccessful due to that regime’s regarding from joining the NPT, and as a result its nuclear facilities, too, have not been under the supervision of the IAEA."

"Without intending to belittle the efforts made by this esteemed commission," Khaza’ie said, "it is very unfortunate that all such moves have still not led to disarmament."