VIENNA - Arab nations on Friday decided to push ahead with submitting a resolution to the UN nuclear watchdog condemning Israel's nuclear activities.

"This decision is on the agenda", a senior IAEA diplomat told AFP of Friday's meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's general assembly in Vienna.

"The Arab League has taken a firm decision this morning to go all the way", the diplomat said.

The draft resolution concerning "Israel's nuclear capacities and threats" is backed by 15 Arab countries, along with Indonesia, Iran, Cuba, Malaysia and Venezuela.

In recent years similar resolutions against Israel have been proposed, but none found their way on to the IAEA's formal agenda because of Israeli support for an Egyptian appeal for a ban on nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

But Israel's offensive against Hezbollah forces in southern Lebanon and the growing pressure on Iran over its own nuclear programme have added new impetus to the call.

The issue rarely comes up at the IAEA because Israel -- unlike Iran -- is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The Jewish state refuses to acknowledge or deny that it possesses nuclear arms, but most experts agree that it has at least 200 atom bombs at the ready.

The last time such a resolution was adopted was 1991.

"If the draft resolution is kept on the agenda, there is also a good chance it will be adopted," putting Western powers -- which pushed through a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear programme via the IAEA's Board of Governors -- in an awkward position, a Western diplomat said on Thursday.

In the case of Iran, world powers have given Tehran until early October to respond to an offer to negotiate the cessation of its uranium enrichment activities or face sanctions, according to diplomats.

The number of countries backing the draft resolution makes it unlikely that the resolution will be amended or withdrawn.

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