Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East – GA reolution

Fiftieth session

Agenda item 73

RESOLUTION ADOPTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

[on the report of the First Committee (A/50/593)]

The General Assembly,

Bearing in mind the relevant United Nations resolutions,

Taking note of the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the latest of which is GC(39)/RES/24, adopted on 22 September 1995, and noting the danger of nuclear proliferation, especially in areas of tension,

Cognizant that the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the region of the Middle East would pose a serious threat to international peace and security,

Aware of the importance that all nuclear facilities in the region be placed under full-scope safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency,

Recalling the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 11 May 1995, 1/ in which the Conference noted with concern the continued existence in the Middle East of unsafeguarded nuclear facilities, reaffirmed the importance of the early realization of universal adherence to the Treaty and called upon all States in the Middle East that had not yet done so, without exception, to accede to the Treaty as soon as possible and to place all their nuclear facilities under full-scope International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards,

Recalling also the decision on principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on 11 May 1995, 2/ in which the Conference urged universal adherence to the Treaty as an urgent priority and called upon all States not yet party to the Treaty to accede to it at the earliest date, particularly those States that operate unsafeguarded nuclear facilities,

Encouraged by the recent positive developments in the Middle East peace process, which would be further strengthened by States of the region undertaking practical confidence-building measures in order to consolidate the non-proliferation regime,

1. Welcomes the accession of the United Arab Emirates on 26 September 1995 to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons;

2. Calls upon Israel and all other States of the region that are not yet party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons not to develop, produce, test or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons, to renounce possession of nuclear weapons and to accede to the Treaty at the earliest date;

3. Calls upon the States of the region that have not yet done so to place all 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;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its fifty-first session on the implementation of the present resolution;

5. Decides to include in the provisional agenda of its fifty-first session the item entitled "The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East".

90th plenary meeting

 12 December 1995

Notes

1/ See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the 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.

2/ Ibid., decision 2.