Mohammad Mohsen Abu al-Nour told the Lebanese Asia News Agency that, “Dr. Rouhani is qualified for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize this year, as (US President) Barack Obama was introduced as the winner of the prize at the start of his term in 2009”.

He said, “I urge the Nobel Prize committee to give this year’s prize to Dr. Rouhani to promote his efforts to bring peace between Iran and the United States”.

In the first direct communication between an Iranian and a US president since Iran’s Islamic Revolution of 1979, President Hassan Rouhani of Iran held a telephone conversation with Obama on September 27 shortly before leaving New York.

During their telephone conversation, Obama and Rouhani stressed Tehran and Washington’s political will to swiftly resolve the dispute over Iran’s nuclear energy program, which the United States, Israel and some of their allies falsely claim to include non-civilian components.

Rouhani also called for moving toward a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East and called on nuclear-armed Israel to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty and put its widely suspected nuclear arms under international control.

A recent study by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists showed Israel has at least 80 operative nuclear warheads and has enough material to make more than 190 bombs.

SHI/SHI