Iran condemns U.S. subcritical nuclear test

TEHRAN,Dec.9(MNA) - Iran has strongly condemned the United States for carrying out a subcritical nuclear test in Nevada Desert this week, saying that the test shows U.S. inattention to international calls for total nuclear disarmament. On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the test proves Washington’s hypocrisy in regard to the issue of nuclear disarmament that threatens world peace and stability. He also said that Iran, as one of the primary victims of weapons of mass destruction, adheres to the noble cause of disarmament in accordance with the Supreme Leader’s fatwa (religious decree), in which he has declared that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (prohibited in Islam). The subcritical test, known as Pollux, was carried out successfully on Wednesday to test the safety and effectiveness of U.S. nuclear weapons by Nevada National Security Site, scientists at the Los Alamos, and the Sandia National Laboratories. According to RT, international inspectors were not allowed to witness the experiment as Washington has prevented access to its test site since the late 1990s. Wednesday’s test is the United State’s 27th “subcritical experiment” since full-scale nuclear weapons tests were halted in 1992.