Iran assails West and Israel at talks

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iran sharply criticised the United States, Britain and France on Monday for "continuous nuclear cooperation" with Israel, saying support for the Jewish state was a source of concern for the entire Middle East.

Speaking at the start of a two-week meeting of the 189 signatories of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Ali Hosseini also said the endorsement of a U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal by the world's top producers of atomic technology violated the pact.

"Continuous nuclear cooperation of the United States, UK and France with the Zionist regime is a total disregard with the obligations under the treaty ... and a source of real concern for the international community, especially the parties to the treaty in the Middle East," Hosseini said.

Israel, India and Pakistan have never signed the treaty. Israel neither confirms nor denies the existence of what arms control experts believe to be its sizable nuclear arsenal, while India and Pakistan are confirmed nuclear powers.

Without naming India, Hosseini lashed out at the "horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons through providing nuclear equipment, material and technology to non-parties of the NPT in violation" of its articles.

He said the India deal "severely damaged the NPT," and that the failure of the big nuclear powers to disarm has "accelerated the nuclear arms race."

He repeated Tehran's dismissal of Western suspicions about Iran's nuclear programme, saying it was entirely peaceful.

Western diplomats said Iran's aggressive speech was part of a stepped-up effort to draw attention away from its nuclear program by pointing its finger at the United States and its allies.