People watch as lanterns are lit and placed on the Motoyasu river by the Atomic Bomb Dome (behind) in remembrance of the victims in Hiroshima on August 5, 2023, on the eve of the 78th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack by the US.     (Photo by AFP)

Tehran, August 6 (RHC)-- Tehran has lashed out at the United States as the only country using nuclear weapons and massacring hundreds of thousands in Japan as well as being the key supporter of the nuke-armed Israeli regime while still purporting to advocate global nuclear disarmament.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani seriously questioned American competence for leading calls for the elimination of weapons of mass destruction in a post on X -- formerly Twitter -- on Sunday, marking the 78th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Hiroshima that instantly killed nearly 140,000 people.

The U.S. has "a dark history of using nukes as a WMD & aiding an illegitimate regime with the largest nuclear arsenal,” he wrote. “Is it fit to be the flag bearer of a nuclear weapons ban!?"   Kan'ani also rejected Washington's claims about Iran’s nuclear activities as "a deliberate repetition of a big lie.”

On August 6, 1945, the US dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing thousands instantly and about 140,000 by the end of the year.  Three days later, it dropped a second bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000.

The key U.S. ally, the Israeli regime occupying Palestine, is also estimated to possess 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in West Asia.

In recent years, Washington has been persistently attempting to fuel fears about Iran’s nuclear program, whose peaceful nature has been verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).