Vice Premier and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has appealed to all nations to ban the sale or transfer to Syria and Iraq of raw materials and equipment needed to manufacture chemical weapons.
According to an Israel Radio report Friday, Peres told Ambassadors accredited to Israel that the sale or transfer of such material would break a taboo that should be sacrosanct. Poison gas has been used by Iraq in its war with Iran, and Syria is known to be stockpiling chemical weapons.
Peres said that the Persian Gulf war is between two countries that are enemies of Israel and Israel has no reason to aid either of them. The supply of American arms to Iran was limited and done at the request of the U.S. for the humanitarian purpose of helping effect the release of hostages and prisoners held by pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, Peres said.
He reiterated that Israel had nothing whatever to do with the transfer of profits from the Iranian arms sale to the Contras trying to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua.
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