Statement by E. Mr. Esmaeil Baghaei Hamaneh Ambassador and Permanent Representative the Islamic Republic of Iran Before Conference on Disarmament Geneva - 21 January, 2020   بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم     Thank you Mr. President. My delegation would like to join others in congratulating you on your assumption of the CD's presidency. I assure you of our full cooperation and as has always been the case in this forum. Mr. President, Distinguished colleagues, The ever-increasing deterioration of the security environment across the planet has made the Conference on Disarmament and its mandate more relevant than ever before. The declining security climate should not be invoked as an excuse to further exacerbate the arms race or unravel the existing arms treaties; it shall rather serve as an urgent motivator to expedite disarmament, in particular nuclear disarmament. Mr. President, As the single multilateral negotiating forum devoted to disarmament, the CD is best placed to move the international community forward in its long quest for a world free from nuclear weapons.  We recognize the important task ahead of us and the responsibility you are entrusted with as the CD's first Presidency in 2020 in this regard. We appreciate that you have already conducted extensive consultations with member States with a view to crafting a balanced and comprehensive programme of work. I would like to reiterate the importance of a “balanced and inclusive” programme of work which appropriately addresses the CD’s core mandate, namely the nuclear disarmament, effective international assurance of non-use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states and the prevention of an arms race in outer space.           My delegation remains committed to engaging with you and with other responsible delegations to fulfill that goal. We should be mindful of the lessons learned during 2019 both here in Geneva in this context and in New York's First Committee, avoid petty politics, maintain focus on the CD's core agenda and protect this forum from being dragged down to unnecessary ill- intended distractions. Commencing the negotiations on nuclear disarmament is the most urgent task that the CD needs to venture into. The prevailing security challenges against international peace and security should compel us to prioritize nuclear disarmament as the most urgent security concern, since nuclear weapons continue to pose an existential threat to humanity and non-compliance with nuclear disarmament obligations has seriously undermined the faith in the capacity and relevance of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to realize its main purpose, which is 'nuclear disarmament'. Mr. President, There is no alternative to multilateral diplomacy and collective interaction for addressing our common security challenges. We have to shield multilateralism and multilateral institutions against the evil of unilateralism. This is the only way to protect and flourish the rule of international law and break the stalemate in the CD. Mr. President, Some colleagues expressed their concern over the increasing tensions in the Persian Gulf area and the broader West Asia; I rust that everyone is deeply aware of the underlying source of the increasing security challenges. The first days of 2020 coincided with a harrowing blow to peace and security, and indeed to the most basic tenets of human civility, when on 3rd January "the most effective force" against the menace of ISIS terrorism fell victim to an outrageous act of blatantly overt State terrorism.           That cowardly act, perpetrated in grave violation of international law and in brazen defiance of universally respected norms and standards, put the whole region on alert and sounded the alarm over the consequences of excessively egoistic militarism and hawkish unilateralism. The Islamic Republic of Iran reacted responsibly and in full accordance with international law by taking certain measures in exercise of its inherent right to self-defense. Iran continues to stand resolute in defense of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and dignity. The US shall bear full responsibility for its unprecedented interventionist and aggressive acts and policies against Iran and other nations in the region. General Soleimani and his 4 companions will always remain in the hearts and minds of Iranians who poured into the streets in tens of millions to pay tribute to him for his heroic sacrifices both during the 8 year long war with Saddam's regime and in the fight against the scourge of DAESH. Their assassination should serve as another wake-up call that the US military presence in West Asia has only brought violence, chaos, division, hatred and terror, and that it is the major source of instability and insecurity in the region. The gravity of the atrocity and its unlawfulness and immorality, ordered and carried out in the name of s sovereign State against an official of another sovereign nation while on an official visit to a an independent neighboring country  must compel us to prevail over the “normalcy bias” syndrome; otherwise, the evil will be daringly banalized. Mr. President, May I say a few words regarding the JCPOA, as well, with the proviso that Iran’s voluntarily accepted commitments under the JCPOA have nothing to do with the non-proliferation. This morning the EU representative expressed their ‘regret’, the normal catchphrase, over the US’ unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA and at the same time conveyed their ‘deep concern’ over Iran’s latest remedial measures taken on 5 January after several months of one-sided implementation of the agreement and following EU/E3’s passivity in the face of US’ intransigence. The tone, by itself, tells a lot: you continue only to regret a blatant violation of a multilaterally negotiated diplomatic achievement, and a brazen defiance of UNSC consensus resolution 2231. That has proved not to be enough. We assumed EU/E3 to be credible negotiating partners during the long period of negotiations which led to the JCPOA. And we have always prayed for that credibility to sustain before the watching eyes of the international community. Mr. President, 1)      Iran has been among the first signatories of the NPT and our nuclear programme has always been peaceful. It continued to be under unprecedented scrutiny of the IAEA; 2)      The JCPOA was crafted as a confidence-building measure to alleviate any concern, real or concocted, over the nature of our programme. The JCPOA worked well mainly thanks to Iran’s impeccable performance which has been confirmed more than 17 times by the IAEA. 3)      The JCPOA is a multilateral document negotiated between Iran and the EU/E3+3, and endorsed by UNSC consensus resolution 2231. The US unilateral and unlawful decision in May 2018 to abandon the deal badly injured the whole agreement; we should not lose sight of this crystal clear fact that it was one of the EU/E3+3, not Iran, reneged on its obligation and triggered a very  consequential chain of events that led to this worrying situation; 4)      Despite US’ reckless unilateral withdrawal, Iran continued to full implement its voluntarily undertakings with the hope that the other partners would rush to compensate for the damage inflicted on the JCPOA by the US. That expectation proved to be far from realistic as the EU/E3 preferred to appease the United States in vain. Iran continued, for more than 15 months to implement its voluntarily undertakings almost absolutely one-sidedly as the US’ so called maximum pressure campaign reimposed all the US sanctions and scared all EU/E3 economic partners away from cooperation with their Iranian business partners; the EU/E3 only watched as the US’ unlawful and malign campaign surpassed all the redlines by imposing sanctions on almost every sector of Iran’s economy aimed deliberately at starving Iranian nations. 5)      Under such circumstances, Iran restored to paragraph 26 and 36 of the JCPOA. 6)      Now, the recent measures taken by Iran are completely within the framework of the JCPOA as we are insightful enough not to waste the most important achievement of multilateral diplomacy of the past 2 decades; Iran continues its cooperation with the IAEA and continues its voluntarily implementation the Additional Protocol. Iran’s steps taken in full conformity with the JCPOA will be reversible, should other JCPOA participants take meaningful decision to live up to their commitments; otherwise Iran would be unable to shoulder the heavy weight of sustaining a multilateral agreement, in fact a UNSC resolution, alone. 7)      You cannot have it both way; observing the rule of law and respecting multilateral obligations is not a taken for granted ritual; it requires minimum level of readiness to pay for the costs; you cannot gain credit at the expense of others; you cannot be only at the preaching side to the injured party; you need to restore your credibility before you urge Iran and before you ask Iran to return.   I thank you Mr. President.