Iran urges total nuclear disarmament

Iran’s Deputy Ambassador to the UN Eshaq Ale-Habib has called for total nuclear disarmament as the only guarantee that would keep the world entirely safe from nuclear weapons.

The vast majority of the world community strongly believes that the only certain guarantee that nuclear weapons won’t be used or threatened to be used is the total annihilation of such weapons, Ale-Habib told the UN General Assembly on Friday.

He went on to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty, believed that nuclear disarmament must be put on the agenda of the international community and any nuclear tests must be banned as well.

The envoy further explained that the annihilation of nuclear weapons turned into a global demand after the US nuclear bombardment of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.

He noted that during the past decade, several agreements have been signed on denuclearization, non-proliferation and banning nuclear tests to lay the groundwork for total nuclear disarmament.

He, however, added that nuclear-armed countries’ failure to remain committed to their obligations under the Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has endangered the prospect of global nuclear disarmament.

The Article VI of the NPT states that “Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”

He said the international community needed to compel Israel, as a non-signatory to the NPT, to destroy its nuclear weapons and join the NPT.

The Iranian envoy also criticized US nuclear activities and said, the US was the first country to test and use nuclear weapons and it conducted the biggest number of nuclear tests.

The United States also possesses the biggest nuclear arsenal and has allocated billions of dollars to develop nuclear tests and modernize its nuclear weapons, he added.

The UN General Assembly was held on Friday to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests.