Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki blames nuclear-armed states for the failure of efforts aimed at global disarmament, calling for a world free from weapons, Press TV reported.
"Nuclear-armed countries are responsible for failure of efforts aimed at dismantling nuclear weapons," IRNA quoted Mottaki as saying at the International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament in Central Asia and the Caspian Sea Littoral States in Turkmenistan's capital Ashgabat on Thursday.
He voiced Iran's full support for dismantling nuclear weapons in Central Asia as part of Tehran's push for international nuclear disarmament.
The Iranian minister expressed confidence that such moves would be "fruitful" in tightening security in countries of the region.
Mottaki said that using the issue of such weapons as a tool to achieve political aims is the worst form of "blackmailing" and called on the international community to prevent nuclear-armed countries from accessing such weapons.
He went on to say that the first step towards global disarmament is that nuclear-armed countries must outline a timetable for dismantling their atomic weapons and added, "Otherwise, all efforts aimed at establishing a world free of nuclear weapons will be futile."
Mottaki also stressed that Israel, which is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, endangers the region's peace and security.