Ambassador's Statement During the Conference on Disarmament on

The Challenges Of New And Emerging Threats

Ambassador Bahreini in his statement delivered under Agenda Item VI of the Conference on Disarmament highlighted the challenges of new and emerging threats and the necessity of assessing the impact of emerging technologies on international security and arms control efforts. The full text of the statement 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: VI on Comprehensive Programme of Disarmament

Geneva, 11 June 2024

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحیم

 

Thank you Mr. President for giving me the floor,

At the outset Mr. President, let me join my colleagues in thanking you for organizing this thematic discussion under Agenda Item 6 of the conference.

We also support your reasonable approach in choosing a general topic without specifying a certain category of emerging technology, which enables more delegations to engage in this thematic discussion.

Let me also extend our gratitude to the distinguished panelists for their very informative and insightful presentations.

Although we believe that the CD has its own mandate and priorities under its agenda items, and the Conference is not a forum mandated to address the emerging technologies, we would like to take the opportunity and make some general remarks in our national capacity.

Mr. President,

Scientific and technological developments, combined with an unprecedented arm race and the divergence of different resources to armaments, significantly influence global security and efforts on comprehensive international disarmament.

Taking into account the potential and actual impacts of emerging technologies on international peace and security, Iran believes that it is also of significance for the Conference to remain concerned about technological innovations and emerging technologies in armaments.

While scientific and technological advancements offer significant tools to enhance global security and support disarmament efforts, they can also pose new challenges and risks that need to be carefully managed. Effective international cooperation and engagement are essential to leveraging the benefits while mitigating the downsides of these technological developments. New technologies can also have pros and cons. While they can bring comfort, peace, and ease our lives, particularly when they are incorporated with weapons, they can turn into a grave and immediate menace to the lives and the existence of humankind.

It is worth mentioning that the technologies by themselves do not pose a threat; rather, the way that they are developed and incorporated into weapon systems may make them as a challenge. Therefore, it will be more discreet and precise to address emerging means of warfare, instead of emerging technologies.

As the Final Document of the General Assembly’s First Special Session on Disarmament states, the vast stockpiles and tremendous build-up of arms and armed forces and the competition for qualitative refinement of weapons of all kinds, to which scientific resources and technological advances are diverted, continue to pose incalculable threats to peace. Such a situation both reflects and aggravates international tensions, sharpens conflicts in various regions of the world, hinders the process of detente, exacerbates the differences between opposing military alliances, jeopardizes the security of all states, heightens the sense of insecurity among all states, including the non-nuclear-weapon states, and increases the threat of nuclear war.”.

There are some new technologies with a potential impact on international peace, security, and disarmament. Regretfully, some of these technologies, like artificial intelligence, have been deploying for mass killing and to target innocent and defenseless people, including in the Gaza Strip.

As paragraph 12 of SSOD-I indicates, “The massive accumulation of armaments and the acquisition of armaments technology by racist regimes, as well as their possible acquisition of nuclear weapons, present a challenging and increasingly dangerous obstacle to a world community faced with the urgent need to disarm. It is, therefore, essential for purposes of disarmament to prevent any further acquisition of arms or arms technology by such regimes, especially through strict adherence by all States to relevant decisions of the Security Council.”

Recognizing that emerging technologies are not a threat per se, we are of the view that new technologies and their potential use in warfare should not hinder developing countries’ access to such technologies for peaceful purposes. We also believe that the existing gaps between the developed and developing worlds should be bridged, and unconditional and non-discriminatory cooperation for scientific and technological transfers for peaceful purposes needs to be secured.

In conclusion, Mr. President,

We acknowledge the importance of continuing the examination of new technologies and encourage the international community to keep on assessing the consequences of technological advances and their use in warfare.

Efforts to this end must include negotiations on the limitation and cessation of the qualitative improvement of armaments, especially weapons of mass destruction, and the development of new means of warfare so that ultimately scientific and technological achievements may be used solely for peaceful purposes.

I thank you!