Iran has condemned the United States for the subcritical nuclear test recently conducted in Nevada, saying the test undermines world peace and global stability and shows the United States’ hypocrisy on the issue of nuclear disarmament.
On Friday, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said the test proves Washington is still following a policy based on reliance on weapons of mass destruction, disregarding international calls for total nuclear disarmament.
The test, known as Pollux, was conducted jointly by the Nevada National Security Site, the Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratories on Wednesday.
The US National Nuclear Security Administration said the 27th subcritical experiment was conducted to ensure that Washington “can support a safe, secure and effective stockpile” of nuclear weapons.
However, the experiment has drawn sharp criticism from residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which are the only cities that have ever been attacked with nuclear weapons.
“I wonder why [US] President [Barack] Obama, who said he would seek a nuclear-free world, carried out the test,” said Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui.
Hirotami Yamada, the secretary general of the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Survivors Council, said the experiment “is proof that the United States could use nuclear weapons anytime.”
