Zionist regime main obstacle to nuclear-weapon-free Middle East

Iran's Permanent Representative to the UN and other international organizations in Vienna Reza Najafi said on Tuesday that the Zionist regime’ nuclear program is the main obstacle in the way of nuclear-weapon-free Middle East.

News ID: 69961

Date: 01 May 2018 - 18:10

TEHran (Defapress) He made the remarks during the second session of the Preparatory Committee of 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons themed “Specific Issues of Cluster II: Establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in the Middle East” in Geneva on May 1.

Warning about grave danger and threat that the Israeli regime’s nuclear weapon program poses to the security and stability of the Middle East as well as the global non-proliferation regime, he said that the concern and danger have not been dissipated and no progress has been made in addressing that danger through the implementation of the 1995 Resolution.

The full text of his speech is as follows:

“Mr. Chairman,

I would like to associate my delegation with the Non-Aligned Movement’s statement on the specific issues of cluster II.

The adoption, by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference, of the resolution on the Middle East, was a turning point in advancing the proposal for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The NPT States parties by unanimously recognizing the 1995 Resolution as an essential element of the basis on which the Treaty was indefinitely extended without a vote in 1995 have established an inseparable relation between the NPT and the 1995 Resolution on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons.

The underlying driving force for the adoption of the 1995 Resolution was the shared concern among States parties to the Treaty regarding the grave danger and threat that the Israeli regime’s nuclear weapon program pose to the security and stability of the Middle East region as well as the global non-proliferation regime. It was also based on such a shared concern that the Final Documents of the 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences have called on Israel to accede to the NPT and place all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards as the requirement for realizing the universality of the Treaty in the Middle East.

That concern and danger have not been dissipated and no progress has been achieved in addressing that danger through the implementation of the 1995 Resolution. That is why all States parties to the Treaty, with the exception of the United States of America, have emphasized in their statements on the fundamental importance of the implementation of the 1995 Resolution and the practical steps agreed at the 2010 Review Conference.

The lack of progress in the implementation of the 1995 resolution is a matter of deep concern. It is not hard to see why 23 years after the adoption of the 1995 resolution on the Middle East and eight years after the adoption of the 2010 action plan for the implementation of that resolution, no progress have been made, despite the strong support of the overwhelming majority of the States parties, as well as the efforts by Iran and all Arab countries in the region for their implementation.

The clandestine nuclear weapons program of Israeli regime and its unwarranted nuclear facilities are the main obstacles to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The Israeli regime continues to block all international and regional efforts for implementation of the 1995 Resolution with the backing of the United States, the unfaithful cosponsor of the 1995 Resolution.

The Final Document of the 2010 Review Conference called on all States to refrain from undertaking any measures that preclude the achievement of the objective of the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. However, the United States, as one of the co-sponsors of the 1995 Resolution and the co-conveners of the 2012 conference, by supporting the obstructive

positions of the Israeli regime and setting preconditions for the implementation of the 2010 action plan, has acted as a stumbling block to convening the 2012 conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons. On 23 November 2012, the US unilaterally announced that the conference could not be convened and that it would not support a conference in which Israel would be subject to pressure.

The implementation of the 1995 Resolution is the individual and collective responsibility of all States parties to the Treaty, in particular the three depositary States of the Treaty that cosponsored the 1995 Resolution on the Middle East. Certain States parties to the Treaty, by representing the Israeli regime in the Review Conferences, object to taking practical measures and establishing processes leading to full implementation of the 1995 resolution. The 2015 Review Conference was unable to reach an agreement on its outcome document because of the objection of the two co-sponsors of the 1995 Resolution United States and the United Kingdom to a decision contained therein on the implementation of the 2010 plan of action on the Middle East.

The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly supports the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported and called for the speedy implementation of this resolution. On the same grounds, Iran supported the adoption, in 2010, of a plan of action on the implementation of the 1995 Resolution.

Consistent with this principled position, Iran has already taken various practical steps aimed at making progress towards the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, in particular by accession to all the international instruments banning the weapons of mass destruction.

The 2020 Review Conference should reaffirm the urgent need for the prompt and full implementation of the 1995 resolution and the 2010 plan of action on the Middle East. The long and dark record of the Israeli regime in committing aggression, occupation and war crimes since its inception in the region demonstrates how essential and urgent the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons is for the maintenance of security and stability in the Middle East region and beyond.

Such realities make it completely clear that the international community should accelerate its efforts aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East including by exerting constant pressure on the Israeli regime to compel it to accede to the NPT, and to place all of its nuclear activities and installations under the full-scope IAEA safeguards. As an option, the 2020 Review Conference should call on all States parties for the total and complete prohibition of nuclear cooperation with, and the transfer of all nuclear facilities, resources or devices to, the Israeli regime.

Mr. Chairman,

Before concluding, I would like to congratulate the State of Palestine for the conclusion of Safeguards Agreement between the State of Palestine and the IAEA in accordance with the NPT. With this latest safeguards agreement, all territories in the Middle East, with the exception of the territories under occupation of Israeli regime, are now covered by Safeguards Agreements and the NPT provisions.”

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