Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

Soltanieh: Iran offered constructive proposals to UN NPT Conference

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New York, May 28, IRNA -- Iran’s IAEA envoy Ali-Asghar Soltanieh said here Thursday that Iran has provided the UN NPT Review Conference with constructive proposals.

Soltanieh told IRNA that the NPT Review Conference has since three weeks ago been the scene of challenges between countries possessing nuclear arms and the countries lacking such weapons, especially the Non-Aligned Movement member states.

He said that during the Conference the countries possessing nuclear arms tried to shrug off commitments and responsibilities, though were forced by international community public opinion to accept some of the offers.

He added that during the New York Conference three major proposals were raised by the NAM states, including Iran.

He noted that in the meeting, Iran proposed setting a deadline for removal of nuclear arms, which was fortunately included in the NAM final document.

The NAM raised the issue in a written form in the meetings it had with other countries and different committees, he added.

The Iranian envoy noted that countries possessing nuclear arms are concerned whether to accept a timetable of commitment as they have announced their willingness for gradual dismantlement and reduction of arms, especially within framework of such agreements as SALT and START.

The second point proposed to the meeting, said Soltanieh, was that possessors of nuclear arms will provide necessary guarantees not to attack the states lacking such weapons.

He said countries wanted an unconditional and legally binding guarantee for non-invasion. The case was seriously raised by Iran and the NAM states, he added.

The third point, however, was the need for resumption of talks about the Convention on Nuclear Disarmament, said Soltanieh, adding that though there were many opposition, efforts were made to force the meeting to take the move into consideration.

Besides the three key points, such issues as the problem with transfer of nuclear arms from such countries as the US to countries lacking nuclear arms, was raised, said the Iranian envoy, adding that the point was included in the draft document.

As for the nuclear free Middle East, the meeting decided to force Israel to join NPT and put all its nuclear arsenals and facilities under the IAEA supervision, he said, adding that of course some Arab states favored holding a conference under the UN supervision to follow up the issue.

“We say a deadline should be set for Israel’s joining NPT and that the Zionist Regime should not find any chance to upgrade nuclear technology, being forced to bow to international community demand.”

On certain powers’ attempts to restrict fuel cycle right, Soltanieh said western states tried to contain the fuel cycle right but failed to do so as they faced resistance of such developing states as Iran, Brazil, Egypt and other countries.