Ambassadors Statement During the Conference on Disarmament on

Transparency in Armaments

The statement delivered by Ambassador Ali Bahreini under Agenda Item VI of the Conference on Disarmament is as follows:

 Statement

By

Ambassador Ali Bahreini

Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran

to the United Nations Office and Other International Organizations in Geneva

Before

The Conference on Disarmament

Agenda item: VII on Transparency in Armaments

Geneva, 30 May 2024

 

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

 

 

Thank you Mr. President for giving me the floor,

Mr. President, we thank you for convening this fruitful thematic discussion under Agenda Item 7 and providing us with the opportunity to outline our national position on this very important topic.

Let me also take this opportunity to extend our appreciation to the distinguished panelists for their very informative and insightful presentations on this matter.

Mr. President, distinguished colleagues,

The heavy reliance on nuclear weapons and increasing expenditures for their modernization and expansion, perpetuate a dangerous cycle of insecurity, fostering tensions and exacerbating global threats. This status indicates that military doctrines of nuclear weapon states are worryingly becoming more reliant on their nuclear weapons, which makes us far from the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament.

Increasing the size of stockpiles, expanding nuclear weapons facilities, and modernizing nuclear bombs and the systems designed for their delivery are all grave issues of concern and in the long term, undermine the integrity and credibility of the non-proliferation treaty and its review conference’s outcome documents.

Moreover, it goes without saying that nuclear sharing and nuclear guarantees contradict the letter, spirit, and purpose of the NPT. NATO expansion is contrary to nuclear disarmament commitments, and hosting nuclear weapons by some NPT member states and nuclear sharing arrangements—including within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)—have undermined the Treaty’s incredibility.

International security status should not be used as a pretext to justify the continued possession of nuclear weapons and non-fulfillment of obligations under the NPT. The obstacles to nuclear disarmament are created not by any technical or legal impediment but by the pursuit of power through violence and security through weapons.

It is worth mentioning that Action 5 of the 2010 NPT Review Conference outcome document committed nuclear-armed states to diminish the role and significance of nuclear weapons in all military and security concepts, doctrines, and policies and to further enhance transparency and increase mutual confidence. Nuclear weapon states are called upon to report on these undertakings in 2014; they are also, by Action 21, recommitted to develop a standard reporting form on their nuclear arsenals and capabilities and on their nuclear policies, doctrines, and risk reduction measures.

Obviously, nuclear transparency, including nuclear doctrines and arsenals, is not per se an end and cannot substitute for the ultimate goal of nuclear disarmament. Rather, it should be considered as a tool to facilitate and expedite the objective of complete and irreversible nuclear disarmament.

As the Final Document of the General Assembly’s Tenth Special Session on Disarmament stipulates, all states, in particular nuclear weapon states, should, in their military doctrines, consider as soon as possible various proposals designed to secure the avoidance of the use of nuclear weapons and the prevention of nuclear war through international agreements.

To conclude Mr. President,

The goal of nuclear non-proliferation is, as paragraph 65 of SSODI reads and I quote, ‘on the one hand, to prevent the emergence of any additional nuclear weapon states and, on the other, to reduce and eventually complete the elimination of nuclear weapons.’

In this vein, as previously mentioned, the NPT and its outcome documents have continuously stressed the need to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in security doctrines.

All nuclear-armed states and their nuclear-supporting allies must end nuclear sharing arrangements, renounce their nuclear doctrines, and dismantle their nuclear weapon programs.

The obligation to pursue nuclear disarmament applies to all NPT parties, not only those armed with nuclear weapons. Iran expresses its concern over nuclear-armed states’ qualitative and quantitative advancement of their nuclear arsenals and calls on all nuclear weapon states to fulfill their nuclear disarmament obligations to undertake 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. Iran also calls upon non-nuclear-armed states that claim protection from nuclear weapons to eliminate any role for nuclear weapons in their military and security concepts, doctrines, and policies.

I thank you!