Iran concerned with Israel grouping in Mideast, S Asia CTBT

Hamid Baeidinejad, Director-General for Political and International Affairs of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, attended the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, known as CTBT, in Vienna on Monday.

He told IRIB News Agency in Vienna that Iran as one of the main members of the treaty participated in the summit to share its views on the CTBT, 20 years after its adoption by the UN Security Council in 1996.

“Iran believes that CTBT should really be considered as a treaty to ban development of nuclear weapons and not just nuclear explosions which is a very limited objective,” he said.

He went on to add, “the main purpose of the treaty was to restrict the development of nuclear weapons by banning all forms of nuclear tests, but unfortunately the purpose has not been pursued as desired by members to Non-Aligned Movement.”

“Another concern of Iran raised at the summit is the insistence of some Western countries and the Zionist regime to place Israel in the Middle East and South Asia grouping, which has caused a number of major countries not to be able to play a role in all mechanisms of the CTBT secretariat,” he said.

He went on to add, “during the negotiations and since the first day the treaty was signed, we voiced our concern that other countries cannot decide for the Middle East and South Asia group and impose upon us a regime that is not deemed legitimate by this group.”

“This issue has caused the Middle East and South Asia group to be unable to form and officially declare its existence in the past twenty years and play an effective part in all mechanisms of the CTBT,” he stressed.

The 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, known as the CTBT, was held at the ministerial level in Vienna on Monday, with participation of 110 countries.

The treaty which polices the world for any sign of nuclear tests has 196 member states, 183 that have signed the treaty and 164 that have ratified it. For the treaty to enter into force, the eight other countries including United States, China, Iran, Israel, Egypt, India, Pakistan and North Korea need to ratify it, with the last three countries not yet having signed the treaty.