Saudi Arabia has expressed its deep concern over Iran’s nuclear program, citing the recent International Atomic Energy report which pointed to Tehran’s lack of transparency with international nuclear inspectors.
Addressing the plenary session of the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Wasel, said that his country supported all international efforts to prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons.
Al-Wasel underlined the states’ right to develop peaceful nuclear programs, reaffirming his country’s commitment to a national policy that emphasizes the highest standards of transparency and reliability in the development of atomic energy for civilian purposes.
He added that freeing the Middle East from nuclear weapons was a collective responsibility, noting that the 1995 resolution on the Middle East “remains valid until its objectives are realized.”
The Saudi ambassador stressed the Kingdom’s belief that peaceful cooperation between states was one of the basic measures to achieve prosperity and stability in the world, underlining the importance of compliance of all state parties with all the provisions of the NPT, and the placement of all nuclear facilities under the IAEA’s safeguard system for atomic energy.
The Tenth Review Conference of the NPT is convening in New York in August, following several postponements due to the global Covid-19 pandemic.
The meeting in New York will bring all 191 State Parties together to assess the fulfillment of their treaty obligations as well as to decide on next steps. Since the indefinite extension of the Treaty in 1995, these meetings are regular health checks on the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
