Official Records
General Assembly
Fiftieth session
First Committee
10th meeting
Thursday, 26 October 1995, 10 a.m.
New York
Chairman: Mr. Erdenechuluun ……………………….. (Mongolia)
The meeting was called to order at 10.20 a.m.
Agenda items 57 to 85 (continued)
General debate on all disarmament and international security items
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Mr. Abdellah (Tunisia)(interpretation from French): …
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The Near East, an area important to the security of the region of which Tunisia is a part, should also benefit from this momentum towards the creation of further nuclear-weapon-free zones. Within the framework of the peace process, Tunisia is actively participating in the Working Group on Arms Control and Regional Security and has always supported the plan to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, one free of weapons of mass destruction, and has always called upon Israel to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to place its facilities under the safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The establishment of a denuclearized zone in that region will create a climate conducive to the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.
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Mr. Hasan (Iraq)(interpretation from Arabic): …
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The creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones is an important step towards achieving the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and, ultimately, of nuclear disarmament itself, particularly in a region as the Middle East, which suffers from a serious security imbalance due to Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons and their delivery vehicles. The creation of nuclear-weapon-free zones and zones free from all other weapons of mass destruction in any region will always depend, primarily, on the efforts of the region’s States, but in the case of the Middle East, there is a more compelling factor namely, the role of the Security Council and the responsibility it bears towards the establishment of the nuclear-weapon-free zone.
In its resolution 487 (1981), the Security Council called upon Israel:
This is the only case in the world in which the Security Council had to demand from a State to subject its nuclear facilities to the comprehensive safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Furthermore, Security Council resolution 687 (1991), adopted under Chapter VII of the Charter, takes note that actions to be taken by Iraq with regard to certain categories of weapons:
Moreover, in his report (S/22871/Rev.1) on the monitoring and verification Plan for Iraq’s implementation of resolution 687 (1991) — which was drafted by the General Assembly and adopted in Security Council resolution 715 (1991) under Chapter VII of the Charter — the Secretary-General points out in paragraph 4 that the implementation of the Plan will contribute to the creation of an environment conducive to achieving the goal of a zone free from weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. It should be noted that all the resolutions on the extension of the non-proliferation Treaty also mention paragraph 14 of resolution 687 (1991) in the context of the call for the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.
The Security Council must ensure the implementation of its resolutions, particularly paragraph 14 of resolution 687 (1991), the only article concerning which the Council has adopted no implementation measures. The fact that Israel’s nuclear weapons have remained beyond the concerns of the Security Council poses a serious threat to regional and international peace and security and represents dereliction on the Council’s part with regard to the implementation of these resolutions.
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Mr. Berguño (Chile) (interpretation from Spanish): …
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The United States, the Russian Federation and other Powers have thrown their support behind the establishment of other nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Middle East and South-East Asia and, in general, behind the very concept of a nuclear-weapon-free zone as a valuable tool in the process of maintaining peace throughout the world.
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The meeting rose at 1 p.m.
Document Type: Meeting record
Document Sources: General Assembly
Subject: Arms control and regional security issues
Publication Date: 26/10/1995