Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Larijani reacts to West on Iran's new nuclear achievement

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

United Nations, April 11, IRNA
Iran-UN-Disarmament
Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Mehdi Danesh-Yazdi outlined Tehran's principled positions on Tuesday at the UN Disarmament Commission hoping the body would suggest more factual proposals for elimination of nuclear weapons.

Referring to the nuclear bombings of Japan's Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US, the envoy regretted that a real progress towards nuclear disarmament has yet to be achieved.

"The world public opinion is extremely weary of the continuation of this situation and rightly expects the nuclear weapons states to take concrete actions to fulfill their contractual obligations with regards to nuclear disarmament," Danesh-Yazdi said referring to certain setbacks and unfulfilled commitments in disarmament area.

The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is nowadays facing serious risks due to a "policy of negation, denial and refusal by the nuclear weapons states especially United States with respect to their unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the elimination of their nuclear arsenals," the envoy said.

He added, "In this context, the US continues to undermine the integrity and credibility of the NPT by obstructing the follow up process of nuclear disarmament commitments within the framework of the UN multilateral disarmament machinery, and pursue its own unilateral policies and priorities through more exclusive bodies and groups."

Unfortunately, regretted the envoy, "Non-proliferation has been manipulated by a few countries as a pretext to advance their narrow national interests and to deprive developing countries of their rights to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

"Certain nuclear-weapons states under the pretext of non-proliferation have attempted to establish new mechanisms and precedents to restrict and deny the inalienable rights of States Parties under article IV of the NPT to develop and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes," Danesh-Yazdi said.

Referring to the attempts made under the banner of non-proliferation, the envoy said, "Such attempts will only exacerbate the existing inequalities that are inherent in the NPT, and consequently will lead to the erosion of the integrity of the Treaty and the benefits of its membership."
Danesh-Yazdi also criticized certain nuclear states for proliferating nuclear weapons "horizontally and vertically by either transferring" the nuclear weapons technology and materials to non-parties to the NPT or "by developing new types of nuclear weapons or modernizing them."

The envoy attracted the Disarmament Commission's attention to some executive mechanisms to ensure the critical balance between non-proliferation obligations and the right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

He suggested the commission, "To reiterate the inalienable rights of state parties to the fullest possible exchange of nuclear material, equipment, technology for peaceful purposes without any discrimination; to call on certain groups of states to remove restrictions incompatible with their relevant international obligations imposed on states parties in transfer of nuclear material, equipment and technology for peaceful purposes."

He also suggested the body "To ensure full universality of the NPT without a single exception, and in this regard, to urge Israel, as the only one in the Middle East which has not yet adhered to NPT to accede to it without delay and to place unsafeguarded facilities under full scope of the IAEA."

Danesh-Yazdi also called on the commission "To avoid abusing the UN bodies including the Security Council as an instrument of pressure for depriving states parties of exercising their inalienable rights." The envoy expressed hope the commission would take concrete actions for elimination of nuclear weapons.

Iran was elected as one of the deputies of the UN Disarmament Commission session for the second consecutive year and this has angered the US delegation.

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