بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم Statement By E. Mr. Mohsen Baharvand  Deputy Minister for Legal and International Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran  Before High Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament Geneva, 25 February 2020      Mr. President, I am pleased to have the opportunity to address the Conference on Disarmament for the first time in my new capacity. I would also like to commend the tireless efforts and professional presidency of Algeria as the first president of the CD in 2020 session.   This year is a critical year for disarmament community as we are approaching the tenth NPT Review Conference. The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a staunch advocate for nuclear disarmament and a true believer in multilateralism, rule of law and respect for international treaties, urges, all parties to demonstrate their good faith in order to steer the Conference out of its long time stalemate. That would only be possible if we all live up to our commitments before the current and future generations to make our planet free from nuclear weapons by focusing on the CD’s core mandate, The commencement of negotiations on nuclear disarmament is the most urgent task that the CD needs to undertake. We think it is a good opportunity and essential for the CD, in the advent of the 2020 NPT Review Conference, to launch negotiations on nuclear disarmament as an integral part of its Program of Work. We should avoid politicizing the CD and respect its rules of procedures.   We attach significant importance to effective functioning of the CD, but we do not see any linkage between the CD's long time stalemate and its methods of work. In fact, the CD's ground-breaking achievements were made possible by the same Rules of Procedures and methods of work. We all know that the underlying cause of the CD’s long and its acute stalemate is lack of political will on the part of those who, against the overwhelming will of the international community, have no desire or motivation for taking forward nuclear disarmament.   We do believe that the CD needs to allocate its time and energy to the most immediate concerns which are Nuclear Disarmament and Negative Security Assurances, NSA,  and other substantive core issues. We stand ready to work with you and with other delegations to have a fruitful outcome in 2020 sessions.   Mr. President, The Conference on Disarmament along with its predecessors has made major contributions to the cause of international peace and security by taking some key steps towards a world free from the threat of WMD. The CD is credited for establishing critical treaties prohibiting chemical and biological weapons, and for containing horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons and constraining nuclear test explosions.   However, while there is still a long way to go, the CD has remained deadlocked over its Program of Work for more than two decades. The CD is badly paralyzed and unable to serve its crucial mandate. My delegation urges all members to agree on a balanced and comprehensive Program of Work to commence negotiate on substantial elements of legally binding instruments on core issues, without further delay. This is the responsibility of all CD members to observe and uphold the CD’s position, role and mandate as the single international negotiating forum devoted to disarmament and avoid any attempts, which might turn this august body into a deliberative body.   Mr. President, The deteriorating international security, the rise in the military expenditure to $1.8 trillion, the demise of disarmament and arms control treaties, the erosion of multilateralism, and the insatiable search for global dominance are highly alarming and dangerous.   Nuclear weapons continue to pose an existential threat to humanity. A new nuclear arms race is being accelerated. Non-compliance with nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments has seriously undermined the faith and trust in the capacity and credibility of the Non-Proliferation Treaty to realize its main goal, which is nuclear disarmament. The dangerous logic propagated by nuclear powers that “they need nuclear weapons for their security and deterrence” would simply exacerbate the existing sense of insecurity and could lead to further proliferation of these weapons both horizontally and vertically.   Distinguished delegates, The recent deployment of a new, low-yield nuclear warhead by the U.S. administration, not only has increased the role of nuclear weapons in the US military doctrine in violation of its NPT commitments, but also has made the use of nuclear weapons as possible as conventional weapons and nuclear war more likely. The U.S. has also conducted a military drill in recent days about how this new nuclear weapon might be used against Russia. Such provocative actions must be condemned. This policy is being pursued at the expense of collective global security and in material breach of the U.S. obligations under the NPT. It is provocative, irresponsible and destabilizing. It has renewed nuclear arms race and raised the risk of nuclear war.   Mr. President, There exists a sense of common concern and frustration shared among almost all member States about the future of multilateralism. The U.S.' disrespect for collective will and shared concerns of the international community, presents the gravest threat not only to the objective of nuclear disarmament and the future of the NPT but also violate the fundamental principles enshrined in the United Nations Charter. This policy is part of systematic attempts to undermine the value, significance and efficacy of multilateralism; to decapacitate multilateral institutions, to undercut international agreements, and to invalidate the oldest principle of international law, that is pacta sunt servanda.   Mr. President, The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown its genuine belief in multilateralism and its respect for the outcome of collective negotiations aimed at resolving security concerns. The JCPOA was crafted as a confidence-building measure to alleviate any concern, real or concocted, over the nature of Iran’s peaceful nuclear programme. The Islamic Republic of Iran has shown its utmost resilience and restraint, and continued to implement the JCPOA despite malign activities by the U.S. Iran's impeccable performance record has been confirmed more than 17 times by the IAEA. This not only indicates the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme but also proves our long-held reason that the whole misadventure created over Iran's nuclear programme was a pretext to pressurize our nation politically.   The U.S. unwarranted withdrawal from the JCPOA in material breach of its commitments and in stark violation of a UN Security Council resolution represents a living example of a vicious attack against multilateralism. The U.S. not only continues to systematically violate its commitments under the UN Security Council resolution 2231, but also brazenly calls on others to violate that resolution.   Under such circumstances, Iran’s remedial measures were taken in full conformity with the JCPOA, particularly paragraphs 26 and 36 and 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 the most important achievement of multilateral diplomacy of the past 2 decades. Needless to say that Iran continues its cooperation with the IAEA and continues its voluntarily implementation of the Additional Protocol. Transparency is the hallmark of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program.   Distinguished colleagues, The U.S. unilateralism has also blocked international efforts to establish a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East, which was first proposed by Iran in 1974. The risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East continues to exist as long as the U.S. and its Western allies keep appeasing the real source of proliferation in the region, the nuclear weapons of the Israeli regime.   Distinguished delegates, There is no alternative to multilateral cooperation and collective interaction for addressing our common security challenges. We have to shield multilateralism and multilateral institutions against the danger of unilateralism. This is the only way to protect and flourish the rule of international law. I thank you.