The United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Tehran on Saturday for a two-day visit as part of his Middle East tour which began last Monday.

Annan discussed main regional issues with high-ranking Iranian officials. The talks ranged from Lebanon, Iran’s nuclear issue to developments in Iraq and the occupied territories.

The implementation of the Security Council Resolution 1701 on Lebanon features greatly in the mind of the UN top official.

There is not doubt that Mr. Annan is particularly worried about current crises in the Third World countries, but prior to being concerned about the security of the Zionist regime he should seriously address the dangers of Israel's nuclear arsenal to the Middle Eastern nations.

By possessing about 250 nuclear warheads Israel is threatening peace and security in the region and world, and all the 57 Islamic countries with over 1.5 billion population are worried about the stockpiles of nuclear and chemical weapons in Israel.

During its 33-day war against the Lebanese nation Israeli army used banned weapons including cluster bombs against civilian targets in Lebanon but the international organizations failed to issue a resolution or a statement condemning such inhumane acts due to the influence of great powers on such bodies.

Therefore, Mr. Annan, who is determined to fully implement the Resolution 1701, should find a logical answer to the reasonable concerns of the regional nations.

Without prohibiting the Zionist state from producing weapons of mass destruction no durable peace or security will ever be established in the Middle East.

The other issue featuring greatly in Mr. Annan’s talks with the high-ranking officials here was the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.

Unfortunately, due to the vicious attitudes of certain powers Iran’s peaceful nuclear program has been turned into a hot political issue.

However, it is expected that Annan as the chief international diplomat to take brave steps to settle the issue within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Security Council’s interference in such a purely technical issue which should naturally be handled by the IAEA would undesirably push other countries to turn to underground nuclear activities. So if such double-standard policies persevere it would not last long that hundreds of underground nuclear laboratories will be constructed across the world.

Now, Mr. Annan – who is actually nearing the end of his term as the UN chief – should try to use his legal power to preserve the innate independence of the Security Council by a tight observation of the international law and regulations and remove Iran’s nuclear dossier from the agenda of the Security Council. Any failure to do so will greatly tarnish the image and principles behind the formation of the IAEA.

The other issues conferred by the secretary general and Iranian officials were Iraq and Palestine, which have greatly eclipsed security in the Middle East.

Presently, both Iraq and Palestine should move toward peace and stability; however, with regards to the presence of U.S. occupying troops in Iraq and the Zionist forces in parts of the Palestinian lands, there will be no hope of permanent security in these two countries.

So the secretary general should as well put the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq on top of his agenda because the presence of the occupying forces has brought misery rather than security and welfare to Iraqi nation.