DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

Press Release
DCF/357

DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER OF IRAN ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT

(Reissued as received.)

GENEVA, 2 February (UN Information Service) -- The Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, Mohammad Javad Zarif, this morning told the Conference on Disarmament that the time had come to replace military block security umbrellas with a new and innovative concept of "Global Security Networking", which would ban and destroy weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.

Mr. Zarif suggested that nuclear disarmament needed to be pursued within a practical approach structured in three phases. Promotion of confidence was at the heart of short-term initiatives. For the medium term, the main focus should be on multilateral agreements and codifying legal restraints for the use of nuclear weapons. The final stage would offer negotiations on a global treaty banning nuclear weapons and providing for their destruction under effective international control.

The plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament also heard a collective proposal from Belgium, Germany, Italy, Norway and the Netherlands that an ad hoc committee be created to exchange views on nuclear disarmament since that issue was of interest to all States. The representative of Belgium said that the above-mentioned countries also held as an immediate priority the re-establishment of last year's Ad Hoc Committee to negotiate a fissile material cut-off treaty.

The representative of Venezuela said that general and complete disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, was the objective and aspiration of the international community and a priority for his country.

Also this morning, the representative of Morocco said he believed there should now be a consensus within the Conference to appoint a Special Coordinator to continue informal consultations on the expansion of the body, and asked if this issue could be discussed. In response, the President of the Conference,

Ambassador Robert Grey of the United States, said he intended to raise that issue in presidential consultations with group coordinators right after the plenary and hoped that there would be progress and a move forward on the issue of expansion in the near future.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held on Thursday, 4 February.

Statements

MOHAMMAD JAVAD ZARIF, Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran, said that in spite of historic accomplishments in the field of disarmament, the twentieth century would also be remembered for vivid images of unspeakable horror and bloodshed resulting from failure to forge an inclusive global security system. For a very long time, the balance of terror coupled with military block security umbrellas -- an exclusive privilege provided solely to members of the two major alliances and their associates -- had been presumed to ensure security. The security dilemma and the prevalence of terror had also been the driving force behind the temptation and quest by some to acquire the most lethal weapons, in particular nuclear ones. Perilous signs were looming in the horizon. The risks were real, immense and impending. It was high time to change this predominant yet erroneous security paradigm. The time had come to replace military block security umbrellas with a new and innovative concept of "Global Security Networking", a truly global networking mechanism for an inclusive and participatory global security, which used the existing mechanisms in complementary rather than competing schemes.

Mr. Zarif said that in shaping this new global security, there should be agreement that weapons of mass destruction should have no place in any global security networking and should be banned altogether and destroyed. As regards nuclear disarmament, practical measures had yet to be taken. Multilateral forums, and above all, the Conference on Disarmament, should start considering ways and means to promote nuclear disarmament.

The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister said that nuclear disarmament needed to be pursued within a practical approach structured in three phases: short, medium and long term. Promotion of confidence was at the heart of short-term initiatives, which would be pursued by the nuclear-weapon States bilaterally and multilaterally. For medium term, the main focus should be on multilateral agreements and codifying legal restraints for the use of nuclear weapons. At the same time, the non-proliferation regime should continue to be strengthened and initiatives to establish nuclear-weapon free zones in various parts of the world should also be continued vigorously. The final stage would offer negotiations on a global treaty banning nuclear weapons and providing for their destruction under effective international control.

Mr. Zarif said the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) was in peril. The unsafeguarded nuclear facilities in the Middle East were a real

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threat to the non-proliferation regime. Israel, in defiance of numerous calls from the international community, had rejected to place its nuclear programme and facilities under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and continued with its clandestine programmes. That was an alarming policy that menaced global and regional peace and security.

In conclusion, Mr. Zarif said the Conference on Disarmament had a very prominent role in ensuring global peace and in moving towards "Global Security Networking". To preserve its outstanding role, the Conference needed to know where it was heading, and the agenda, programme of work and the ad hoc committees had to reflect its collectively agreed grand strategy. That was possible, provided that the requisite political will, determination and commitment could be mobilized. The Conference on Disarmament's mission for the twenty-first century must centre on an active pursuit of the imperative breaking away with outdated perspectives and begin to look seriously at new paradigms such as "Global Security Networking".

VICTOR RODRIGUEZ CEDENO (Venezuela) said the Conference should not allow time to elapse without agreement on how to arrange its programme of work. Negotiations on nuclear disarmament should be at the centre of that strategy. A general and complete disarmament and the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, were the objectives and aspirations of the international community and a priority for Venezuela.

Mr. Rodriguez Cedeno said the negotiating process on that issue was in a state of stagnation because of a lack of political will. There was a need to create sufficient confidence in international relations to create a world free of nuclear weapons. There had been some progress in recent years, but serious efforts were still needed to ensure that the threat of the annihilation of the world was ended. The CTBT was a sign of good progress, but it was not an end in itself. Prohibition of fissile material and negative security assurances were also part of that same strategy. There was a need to initiate consultations on those crucial matters immediately.

Venezuela supported the resumption of the troika consultations on those matters until the Conference could decide on how to handle them. Mr. Rodriguez Cedeno said his country supported the urgent creation of an ad hoc committee on nuclear disarmament with a clear mandate. There was also a need to establish legal agreements to ensure nuclear disarmament. It was essential to resume negotiations on the prohibition of the production of fissile material which was part of the nuclear programme. Venezuela supported the establishment of an ad hoc committee on the arms race in outer space with a revised mandate, and the naming of a special coordinator to negotiate a treaty on the transfer of anti-personnel landmines.

ANDRÉ MERNIER (Belgium) said he was speaking on behalf of Germany, Italy, Norway and the Netherlands in a joint statement on nuclear disarmament.

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Those countries held as a priority the negotiation of a fissile material cut-off treaty. Their immediate priority was the re-establishment of last year's Ad Hoc Committee on that issue. At the same time, nuclear arsenals and their reduction were a major issue for the international community, and the above countries welcomed results already achieved. However, 36,000 nuclear warheads still existed. They represented a danger to everyone and justified the need for the international community to be kept regularly and officially informed.

Mr. Mernier said that the countries, on whose behalf he was speaking, proposed that the Conference create an ad hoc committee to exchange views on nuclear disarmament since that issue was of interest to all States. Reading out the text of the collective proposal, he said: "Proposal on Nuclear Disarmament by Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Norway: The Conference on Disarmament decides to establish an ad hoc working group to study ways and means of establishing an exchange of information and views within the Conference on endeavours towards nuclear disarmament". He hoped that proposal would be welcomed by all, and that it would open a dialogue which had been awaited for a long time.

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