Nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East – First Cttee debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly

Fifty-fifth session

First Committee

9th meeting

Monday, 9 October 2000, 10 a.m.

New York

President:  Mr. U Mya Than…………………….(Myanmar)

The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Agenda items 65 to 81 (continued)

General debate on all disarmament and international security items

Mr. Nejad Hosseinian (Islamic Republic of Iran): …

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Universality in the membership of the NPT is another integral part of the process to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world. This issue is of particular concern for the States of the Middle East. Today, all parties in the region except Israel have adhered to the NPT, and all nuclear facilities in the region except those in Israel have been placed under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) full-scope safeguards. By calling on Israel by name to accede to the Treaty and place all its nuclear facilities and its programme under IAEA full-scope safeguards, all States parties to the NPT have now acknowledged, more clearly than ever before, the existence of such a real threat in the region. We hope that this development will contribute to the realization of the establishment of a zone free from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, something that is supported by 26 years of General Assembly resolutions.

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Mr. Hasan (Iraq) (spoke in Arabic):  …

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The Zionist forces have, since 28 September 2000, launched a new campaign of repression against the Palestinian people, using tanks, helicopters, missiles and illegal ammunition such as dumdum bullets and cluster bombs. No doubt everyone was shocked by the picture of the child, Mohammed Al-Durra, seeking shelter and protection in his father’s arms and screaming in horror. That terrible image would stir compassion in the heart of any human being, but it did not prevent a Zionist soldier from aiming his rifle at that child and firing at him in cold blood. He was then left to die in his father’s arms.

That picture is clear testimony of the destructive ability of minds steeped in the culture of hegemony and racism as well as policies of sheer, brutal force and disdain for human beings. It also made clear the real risks posed by the continued possession by the Zionist entity of weapons of mass destruction, foremost among which are nuclear weapons.

The Israeli nuclear-weapons programme is not subject to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) regime. Israel’s refusal to accede to the NPT poses a real threat to regional and international security. It compromises the credibility of the NPT. The fact that this fait accompli is being perpetuated by compelling the states of the region to adhere to the NPT regime while applying a different standard to the Zionist entity creates an imbalance that threatens Arab security. This is untenable. It is unfair that the Arab States should be compelled to remain ad infinitum members of a treaty that gives them no assurances against Israeli nuclear weapons.

Israel, with the help of the United States of America, continues to develop its nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction vertically and horizontally, without any international control.

My statement has focused on Iraq and occupied Palestine as examples of what takes place in certain parts of the world as a result of the hegemony of the United States and its policies of force, and of how one unipolar Power seeks to ride roughshod over the law. This confirms the fact that the world today is far from being just, secure or peaceful.

We must confront the challenges on two interconnected tracks. The first involves strict commitment to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law and the promotion of international machinery for the rule of law in a way that prevents unilateral military acts or threats against the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of States. The second track involves building on what has been achieved in the field of disarmament, proceeding from the strategy adopted by the General Assembly at its tenth special session in 1978, in particular the priority given to nuclear disarmament.

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Mr. Al-Khal (Qatar) (spoke in Arabic):  …

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The State of Qatar, having acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Chemical Weapons Convention, believes that the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East would be a further effective contribution to reinforcing regional security, by halting increasing risks and threats to security. The establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East would be a key confidence-building measure in the effort to achieve a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.

The first of the series of General Assembly resolutions entitled “Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East” was adopted in 1974. Since 1980 the General Assembly has been adopting a resolution on this subject by consensus, and the concept has always been supported in bilateral declarations by the countries of the region and by many international forums.

The Middle East region is now subject to the threat of the use of nuclear weapons, which are possessed by only one State: Israel. There is clearly a dangerous imbalance and great disparity in the Middle East, due to the fact that all the Arab States have acceded to the NPT and comply with its provisions, while Israel has not acceded to this Treaty, and has refused to sign it, and to place its nuclear reactors and installations under the International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards system. Israel persistently refuses to heed calls by the international community to free the region of nuclear weapons. Furthermore, Israel continues to bury its nuclear wastes in occupied Arab territories and to develop all other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons. It does so under a cloak of silence, because of a policy of double standards pursued by major Powers.

If we want to build a better and safer world, a world based on justice and peace, we must put an end to the ongoing, intense arms race and discourage the acquisition and production of weapons of mass destruction. The lethal weapons possessed by Israel constitute a constant and grave danger, threatening the peoples of the Middle East and neighbouring countries. Unless these destructive weapons are eliminated as quickly as possible, the efforts of the international community to curb their spread will certainly fail.

It is plainly logical, in a vast and critical area like the Middle East, to avoid giving an exemption to any country or to treat any country in a discriminatory fashion. Plain common sense calls for putting an end to the exception given to Israel and for insisting that Israel accede to the NPT.

In this vein, we pay tribute to and welcome the sound and courageous decision by the Government of Mongolia to declare its territory free from nuclear weapons, in accordance with the NPT. We also pay tribute to the statement made to the First Committee by Mr. Holum, United States Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, on behalf of the five permanent members of the Security Council. This statement welcomed Mongolia’s declaring itself a nuclear-weapon-free territory and made a commitment to take all necessary measures to support Mongolia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Mongolia’s positive action in becoming a nuclear-weapon-free country — in order to establish peaceful, amicable and mutually beneficial relations with all countries of the region and with other countries, under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations — is a good example that could be emulated in the Middle East. In this way, the Middle East could become a nuclear-weapon-free zone and it would be possible to build a better and safer world, a world based on peace and justice and anchored in international law; human dignity could be preserved; a free and dignified life for mankind could be assured; and all resources could be channelled into the promotion of economic and social development.

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The meeting rose at 12.05 p.m.