The current session of the United Nations General Assembly has adopted a draft resolution submitted by Egypt concerning the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East without a vote.
In a related move, Egypt was elected as vice president of the General Assembly’s First Committee on Disarmament.
Hossam Zaki, spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry, said that this draft resolution–which Egypt has been pushing to the General Assembly since 1974–urges all the region’s states to support the establishment of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The resolution further calls for subjecting all nuclear activity to the system of comprehensive guarantees of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and for abandoning the development, production and testing of nuclear weapons or allowing their proliferation in the Middle East.
The General Assembly has adopted another draft resolution, also presented by Egypt, on the dangers of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East. Egypt and the other Arab countries have managed to rally the support of 155 countries for the resolution, despite the opposition of Israel and the US.
The resolution highlights the importance of having Israel join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and subjecting its nuclear establishments to the IAEA’s system of comprehensive guarantees, as a step towards confidence-building and establishing peace in the region.
Zaki added that the General Assembly has also adopted another draft resolution submitted by Egypt concerning the prevention of an arms race in outer space. The resolution–which calls for effective mechanisms to counter a space arms race and for peaceful use of outer space–was approved by 170 states.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
