France was founder of Israel’s nuclear weapons program: Iranian diplomat

TEHRAN, May 3 (MNA) - Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhondzadeh said that France has made every effort to help Israel in its efforts to develop nuclear weapons. “While certain countries such as France express concerns over peaceful nuclear activities of Iran ... they have spared no effort in helping Israel ... to develop inhumane nuclear weapons,” Akhondzadeh told a meeting convened in Vienna to discuss the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Reuters reported on Wednesday. “Indeed, France is the founder of Israel’s clandestine nuclear weapons program,” he stated. According to Reuters, France built in the 1950s an Israeli reactor in the southern desert town of Dimona. Akhondzadeh went on to say that “the existence of nuclear weapons in the hands of ... Israel continues to pose the gravest threat to the stability and security” in the Middle East.