Assembly demands Israel withdraw "threat" to attack Iraq's nuclear facilities.

Assembly Demands Israel Withdraw "Threat' to Attack Iraq's Nuclear Facilities

ON 10 November, the General Assembly demanded Israel withdraw its "threat to attack and destroy nuclear facilities in Iraq and in other countries'. The Assembly adopted resolution 38/9 by a vote of 123 in favour to 2 against (United States, Israel) with 12 abstentions.

The Assembly noted that Israel's statements so far had not removed apprehensions that its threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities, as well as any similar action against such facilities, would continue to endanger the role and activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other international instruments in the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and in safeguarding against further proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The Security Council was asked to consider the necessary measures to deter Israel from repeating such an attack.

The Assembly also reaffirmed its call for continuation of consideration, at the international level, of legal measures to prohibit armed attacks against nuclear facilities, as a contribution to promoting and ensuring the safe development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The Assembly also noted that serious radiological effects would result from an armed attack with conventional weapons on a nuclear installation and could lead to radiological warfare.

The Secretary-General was asked to report to the Assembly, which would again consider the item in 1984.

Report by Expert Group

The Assembly first discussed Israeli aggression against Iraq's nuclear installations in 1981 at the request of 43 Member States. The Assembly (resolution 36/27) strongly condemned Israel for its premeditated and unprecedented act of aggression and called on all States to stop providing Israel with arms and related material which enabled it to commit acts of aggression against other countries.

In 1982, the Assembly (resolution 37/18) requested the Secretary-General to prepare, with the assistance of a group of experts, a comprehensive study on the consequences of the Israeli attack. That report (document A/38/337) was reviewed in 1983 by the Assembly.

The study states the attack against the Tuwaitha Nuclear Research Centre on 7 June 1981 had almost totally destroyed the Tammuz-1 reactor and damaged other parts of the centre. The attack caused three deaths and the loss of several hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, and a set-back to...