Nuclear proliferation in the Middle East – SecGen report/Annex

The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East

Report of the Secretary-General*

1. At its fifty-fourth session, the General Assembly adopted resolution 54/57 of 1 December 1999, entitled “The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East”, in which the Assembly:

• Called upon the only State in the region that was not party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to accede to the Treaty without further delay and not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, and to renounce possession of nuclear weapons, and to place all its unsafeguarded nuclear facilities under full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards as an important confidence-building measure among all States of the region and as a step towards enhancing peace and security (para. 1);

• Requested the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session on the implementation of the resolution (para. 2).

2. The present report is being submitted pursuant to paragraph 2 of resolution 54/57. Apart from the material forwarded by the International Atomic Energy Agency (see annexes I and II), the Secretary-General has not received any additional information since the submission of his most recent report on the subject (A/54/459) to the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth session.

_______________

* The footnote requested by the General Assembly in resolution 54/248 was not included in the submission.

Annex I

Application of International Atomic Energy Agency

safeguards in the Middle East

Resolution GC(44)/RES/28 adopted by the General Conference

of the International Atomic Energy Agency at its

10th plenary meeting, on 22 September 2000

The General Conference,

(a) Recognizing the importance of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, both globally and regionally, in enhancing international peace and security,

(b) Mindful of the usefulness of the Agency’s safeguards system as a reliable means of verification of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy,

(c) Concerned by the grave consequences, endangering peace and security, of the presence in the Middle East region of nuclear activities not wholly devoted to peaceful purposes,

(d) Welcoming the initiatives regarding the establishment of a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, in the Middle East and recent initiatives regarding arms control in the region,

(e) Recognizing that full realization of these objectives would be promoted by the participation of all States of the region,

(f) Commending the efforts of the Agency concerning the application of safeguards in the Middle East and the positive response of some States in concluding a full-scope safeguards agreement, and

(g) Recalling its resolution GC(43)/RES/23,

1. Takes note of the Director General’s report in document GOV/2000/38-GC(44)/14;

2. Affirms the urgent need for all States in the Middle East to forthwith accept the application of full-scope Agency safeguards to all their nuclear activities as an important confidence-building measure among all States in the region and as a step in enhancing peace and security in the context of the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone;

3. Calls upon all parties directly concerned to consider seriously taking the practical and appropriate steps required for the implementation of the proposal to establish a mutually and effectively verifiable nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region, and invites the countries concerned to adhere to international non-proliferation regimes, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 1/ as a means of complementing participation in a zone free of all weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and of strengthening peace and security in the region;

4. Takes note of the importance of the ongoing bilateral Middle East peace negotiations and the activities of the multilateral Working Group on Arms Control and Regional Security in promoting mutual confidence and security in the Middle East, including the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone, and calls on the Director General, as requested by the participants, to render all necessary assistance to the Working Group in promoting that objective;

5. Requests the Director General to continue consultations with the States of the Middle East to facilitate the early application of full-scope Agency safeguards to all nuclear activities in the region as relevant to the preparation of model agreements, as a necessary step towards the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region, as referred to in resolution GC(XXXVII)/RES/627;

6. Calls upon all States in the region to extend their fullest cooperation to the Director General in the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to him in the preceding paragraph;

7. Also calls upon all States in the region to take measures, including confidence-building and verification measures, aimed at establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East;

8. Calls upon all other States, especially those with a special responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, to render all assistance to the Director General by facilitating the implementation of this resolution; and

9. Requests the Director General to submit to the Board of Governors and to the General Conference at its forty-fifth regular session a report on the implementation of this resolution and to include in the provisional agenda for that session an item entitled “Application of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards in the Middle East”.

Annex II

Presidential statement

In the context of the agenda item entitled “Application of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards in the Middle East”, the General Conference requests the Director General to make arrangements to convene a forum in which participants from the Middle East and other interested parties could learn from the experience of other regions, including in the area of confidence-building, relevant to the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone.

It calls on the Director General, with States of the Middle East and other interested parties, to develop an agenda and modalities which will help to ensure a successful forum.

Notes

1/ See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I)), annex.