“Mohammad El-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], has denied the existence of nuclear installations or of a nuclear reactor, as the IAEA has also. This naturally corresponds to what Syria announced earlier several times following the Israeli raid. It’s a question of a military position, and we didn’t say it was a civilian position, but it has never been a nuclear site. The statements of Baradei have settled the matter. Before the visit of the IAEA’s inspectors we were giving continuous explanations and after the inspectors took samples from the river and the building itself and performed analysis and tests, none of the Israeli and US pretexts and lies turned out to be true.”
From His Excellency Monday Morning Interview, (September 30, 2008)
“ The Syrian stance stems from the necessity of freeing the Middle East from Mass Destruction Weapons; this means that Israel should not possess nuclear bomb; hence it is the only state in the Middle East that has nuclear bomb; Israel itself has initiated such a kind of a race,”
From His Excellency Interview given to the Iranian TV (September 17, 2008)
“ We support every country in the world to have peaceful power, and not Iran only. We do stand against Mass Destruction Weapons (MDW); we have presented in 2003 a draft to the United Nations Security Council for the disarmament of MDW; this draft was shelved! Who opposed it was the United States, because it includes Israel. As for us, we are against MDW, whether for Iran , Israel, or for any country.”
From His Excellency Interview given to the Qatari ‘Al-Wtan’ Daily (April 27th 2008)
"I think Iran is a strong country without nuclear weapons. Secondly, we do not think the Middle East needs more troubles. Thirdly, we submitted a draft resolution to the Security Council to make the Middle East a zone free of Weapons of Mass Destruction. That is how we see it as Syria."
From HE’s Interview with PBS TV, (March 30, 2006)
"As for Iran's nuclear subject, Iran has the right to possess nuclear power for peaceful purposes according to international conventions. Iran says this explicitly and implicitly that its target is a peaceful nuclear power and not the military. The justification, which we hear from some foreign officials, is that they fear of Iran's possession of military nuclear power. Let us suppose that this wording is correct. What about Israel's nuclear weapons? They say Israel possesses hundreds of nuclear warheads. If we are anxious, we have to be so from Israel, firstly because it is the only party in the Middle East which possesses the nuclear weapons. "
From HE’s Interview with Turkish TV , (December 28, 2005)
"On the other hand, Syria's stand was and is still for freeing the Middle East region from all all weapons of mass destruction. In 2003, we submitted a proposal to the Security Council, when Syria was a temporary member-state to make the Middle East region free of WMDs. This proposal was firstly rejected by the US. If they were anxious about the presence of WMDs, let them approve the Syrian proposal, or to keep dealing with the region in double-standards, may be much more double. They have scores of standards as I believe. This wording will not reach a result. "
From HE’s Interview with Turkish TV , (December 28, 2005)
"As to the nuclear issue, we cannot talk about this issue in terms of how one country is thinking. We have to look at it in the larger framework of the Middle East. First, if the nuclear issue is within the peaceful framework, it is the right of every country in this world. There is nothing that prevents any country in the world from possessing nuclear reactors for peaceful purposes. And Iran says clearly that it wants this reactor for peaceful purposes. It says this in public and behind closed doors. "
From HE’s Interview with Russian TV, (December 12, 2005)
"As to the nuclear weapons issue, which is the point you raised, we hear this talked about in order to mean that Iran wants the peaceful reactor in order to obtain nuclear weapons. We cannot look at the question in this way. We have to think in a more comprehensive manner. We have to see the whole region. If we do not want to consider the issue on the international level, let us at least look at the Middle East. If we say that in the Middle East there is one state which has the right to possess nuclear weapons, then all states have that right. If we do not want to see nuclear weapons in any state in the Middle East, we have to carry out a disarmament operation in all these countries, and I mean Israel here. Israel is the only country in the Middle East which possesses nuclear weapons. We in Syria launched an initiative at the Security Council in 2003 in order to make the whole Middle East free of mass destruction weapons. "
From HE’s Interview with Russian TV, (December 12, 2005)
"We in Syria thought that there should not be any mass destruction weapons, including nuclear weapons in the Middle East. But it is not sufficient to look at this issue from a theoretical perspective. There has to be practical application. If some countries are concerned because they suspect that a certain country, Iran or any other country, wants to possess nuclear weapons, they should use the same logic with Israel. Otherwise, decades later this region will be unstable and any technology will in the end be transferred to other places. I am not talking now about the near future. This might happen decades later and the world will pay the price one day. That is why it is better to take up the Syrian initiative at the Security Council, which was obstructed by the United States. I believe that it is better for all the countries of the world to support this initiative and to introduce amendments which can of course be subject to discussion."
From HE’s Interview with Russian TV, (December 12, 2005)
"Our response to the accusations directed against us came in the form of a draft resolution proposed to the UN Security Council to remove the mass destruction weapons from the entire region. The Americans opposed it and were very upset. We have been raising this issue for a long time, and we have big interest in it, so do countries of the region with the exception of Israel. We are in a state of war with Israel, so this must be within the framework of a comprehensive work. The problem between us and Israel is not only a military parity. I think the most dangerous problem is the political parity and the balance of forces in general, including the economic, technological and social balance.”
From HE’s Interview with Al-Arabia TV, ( June 10, 2003)
"Besides, while refraining from joining of Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty, Israel continues its threats to use mass destruction weapons generously offered by the United States of America."
From HE’s Message to the 15th World Festival of Youths and Students, (August 8, 2001)
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