Facing international pressures over his country's disputed nuclear program, Iran's envoy to the United Nations says that Israel's nuclear ambitions are endangering Middle East stability.
Iran's state-run news agency IRNA reports that Mohammad Khaza'ie told the U.N. Disarmament Commission in New York Wednesday that Israel's non-membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was adding uncertainty in the region.
He also said Iran had been advocating for a nuclear-free region since 1974, five years before the country's Islamic revolution.
Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons.
Iran is under United Nations sanctions because of its uranium-enrichment activities. Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.