Saudi Arabia calls for WMD-Free Middle East

Mohammad Al-Qahtani, the member of the Kingdom's permanent delegation to the United Nations
Mohammad Al-Qahtani, the member of the Kingdom's permanent delegation to the United Nations

Saudi Arabia stressed that the establishment of a WMD-free zone inthe Middle East is a collective responsibility at the international level,urging the international community, the United Nations and the States partiesto the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, to fulfill itsobligations towards the establishment of this zone, especially the signatories ofthe Treaty, in order to promote peace, security, and stability in the MiddleEast in particular and the world at large.

This came in a speech by Saudi Arabia in the thematic debate onnuclear weapons during the work of the First Committee on Disarmament andInternational Security at the seventy-fourth session of the United NationsGeneral Assembly, which was delivered Tuesday by the member of the Kingdom'spermanent delegation to the United Nations, Mohammad Al-Qahtani.

Al-Qahtani, according to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA),expressed the Saudi delegation's support for the statement of the Arab Groupand the Non-Aligned Movement, which is a commitment by the Kingdom to theprovisions of the Charter of the United Nations and the principles ofinternational legitimacy as key pillars of its foreign policy.  SaudiArabia attaches particular importance to strengthening the role of the UnitedNations in all areas, particularly with regard to issues of internationalsecurity and disarmament, in the belief that these issues represent anintegrated unit without which the world cannot live in peace and stability.

Al-Qahtani said that Saudi Arabia confirms that the 1995 resolutionof establishing a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of massdestruction (WMD) in the Middle East is still in force until its goalsand objectives are achieved.

Al-Qahtani indicates that Saudi Arabiareaffirms that Israel's continued refusal to join the Nuclear Non-ProliferationTreaty (NPT) and to subject all its nuclear facilities to the IAEAcomprehensive safeguards regime poses a serious threat to international peaceand security, as well as representing a violation and defiance of dozens ofrelevant UN resolutions and of Security Council resolutions nos.487 and 687 specifically.

On the other hand, Al-Qahtani pointed out that Saudi Arabia stressesthe importance of a "comprehensive international agreement" on Iran'snuclear program, which ensures preventing it from acquiring nuclear weapons inany way.

Al-Qahtani expressed that Saudi Arabia welcomes the UNSecretary-General's invitation to Conference on the Establishment of a MiddleEast Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction to beheld by the United Nations next November under the chairmanship of Jordan onthe establishment of a WMD-free zone in the Middle East, in accordance withGeneral Assembly resolution no. 546/73, and urges all States parties invited tothis Conference to participate without any preconditions.

"Saudi Arabia reaffirms the inherent right of all countries topeacefully use nuclear energy in accordance with IAEA standards, procedures andsupervision, and supports the position calling to facilitate the transfer oftechnology, expertise, and equipment related to the peaceful uses of nuclearenergy," Al-Qahtani said.

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