KSA renews its call to make Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons

NEW YORK- The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia renewed its call for making the Middle East a zone free of nuclear and mass destruction weapons because of the risks posed by these weapons to the region and the world at large and their threat to international peace and security, stressing the key role of the United Nations in efforts to achieve international peace and security and disarmament.

 

In a speech delivered here yesterday(April 29th) before the meetings of the Third Preparatory Committee for the Conference of Revision of Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 2015, being held at United Nations headquarters in New York from 28 April to 9 May, 2014, the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Mo’allemi said, ” The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has made a commitment to the provisions of United Nations Charter and the principles of international legitimacy as essential pillars of its foreign policy attaches special importance to strengthening the role of the United Nations in all fields, especially with regard to issues of international peace and security and disarmament emanating from the belief that these issues represent an integrated unit and without it the world can not live in peace and stability. “

The Ambassador noted that although many areas of the world have seen great successes in establishing zones free of nuclear weapons, thanks to cooperation between the countries and their recognizing of the inevitability of peaceful coexistence and security with each other, but we find that the Middle East is still elusive to international and regional efforts to make it free zone of nuclear weapons.

He explained that the intractability of the region towards these efforts is due to the rejection of a single state in the region which is Israel of any effort in this way, despite the succession of resolutions by the General Assembly of the United Nations since 1974, to make the Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons and the most recent decision of the Review Conference in 2010, which set the year 2012 as a date for the conference making the Middle East a zone free of nuclear weapons.

The Ambassador expressed the Kingdom’s deep regret as no concrete action has been taken since that time towards the implementation of those decisions and put them into force, demanding the holding of the conference as soon as possible during the year 2014.

The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the United Nations highlighted the Kingdom’s confirmation of the importance of continuing negotiations between the Group 5 +1 and Iran on its nuclear program from one hand, and negotiations by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran from the other hand, noting that there should be a clear timeframe for these negotiations.

He demanded that Iran reassure the countries in the region and the international community that its nuclear program is peaceful and its commitment to the standards of safety and security by allowing inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out their tasks during their visits to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Ambassador Al-Mo’allemi repeated the Kingdom’s confirmation of the right of all states to obtain nuclear technology and employ it for peaceful purposes so the Kingdom has announced its intention to develop an ambitious program to exploit nuclear energy for peaceful purposes to achieve the goals of sustainable development and the preservation of valuable hydrocarbon resources for future generations.

He added, “To serve its supreme strategic objectives, the Kingdom is currently in the process of planning its peaceful nuclear program in a manner consistent entirely with the requirements of the International Convention and under the control of the safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through its competent institutions, led by King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy , which is planning now to develop infrastructure necessary for the introduction of these technologies and localizing them with ensuring that all steps are characterized by transparency and clarity .-SPA