"This year we hope to get a little bit more," Egyptian ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldeiin Ramzy told AFP about an Arab drive to have the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) discuss "Israeli nuclear capabilities and threat," as proposed in a resolution by Oman.

Arab states have in past years dropped this agenda request in order to win Israeli participation in a consensus on a call for nations to work towards a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

But 15 Arab states plus Palestine said in a letter distributed at the 139-nation IAEA conference in Vienna that they would insist this year on the agenda item since "Israel is developing an advanced nuclear program for military purposes, which has a negative impact on peace and stability in the Middle East region and on efforts to prevent proliferation in the region."