Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations says the Israeli regime’s acts of aggression in the besieged Gaza Strip and elsewhere have underscored the necessity of establishing the West Asia region free from all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).

According to The Iran Project, Amir Saeid Iravani made the remarks during a speech delivered at the fifth session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction held at the world body on Monday.

“The current global landscape, particularly the genocidal war of the Israeli regime in Gaza over the past year and its blatant aggression against other regional countries, underscores the urgent need to establish a Middle East free from all WMDs. The rationale for creating a WMD-free zone in the region has never been more relevant and pressing,” he said.

Iran’s permanent representative to the UN expressed regret that, for decades, the Israeli regime has unlawfully opposed repeated international calls to establish such a region —a proposal first made by Iran in 1974.