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Security Council welcomes Iraq's support for non-proliferation

26 February 2010 – The Security Council today welcomed Iraq’s support for global efforts to limit the number of nuclear weapons and dismantle existing stocks.

In a letter from Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, Iraq confirmed its backing for the international non-proliferation regime and disarmament treaties, the 15-member body said in a presidential statement read out by Ambassador Gérard Araud of France, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for February.

The letter, sent on 18 January, committed Iraq to taking additional steps to comply with non-proliferation and disarmament standards, as well as to inform the Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on progress towards implementing those measures.

“The Security Council welcomes Iraq’s accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, becoming the 186th State party on 12 February 2009,” the statement read, noting a range of other weapons control instruments Iraq has signed.

The Council also underlined its readiness – once the necessary steps have been taken – to review restrictions in its past resolutions on Iraq concerning weapons of mass destruction and civil nuclear activities.

Today is the last scheduled day of work for the French presidency of the Council before Gabon takes over for the month of March.

In January, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced optimism that 2010 will be a “historic year” for progress on disarmament and non-proliferation goals, vowing to press ahead with efforts to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction.

“My hope is based, not on wishful thinking, but on real opportunities for concrete action,” Mr. Ban told this year’s first plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament, the world’s sole multilateral forum for disarmament negotiations, at its meeting in Geneva last month.

Leaders of key nuclear States, the Security Council, the international community and civil society have shown their support for the issue.

Last July, Russia and the United States committed to cut their strategic warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675 and their strategic delivery vehicles to between 500 and 1,000, as part of the Joint Understanding for a follow-on agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

In September, United States President Barack Obama chaired a Council meeting on disarmament, which helped build growing momentum on non-proliferation issues.