Statement

Mr. Heidar Ali Balouji

First Counselor

of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations

at the Open-Ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition –

June 9, 2023 New York - United Nations

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In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful

Mr. Chair,

I would like to express my gratitude for your efforts and those of the team and the secretariat in managing the Open-Ended Working Group on Conventional Ammunition. At the end of this process, on behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, my delegation would like to emphasize the following points:

1- Despite the repeated emphasis by various delegations to reach a satisfactory and meaningful consensus and the constructive input from the Islamic Republic of Iran and its LMG, including offering well-founded technical, legal, and political proposals, upon objective assessment, it is evident that there remained a need for greater balance in the final document. Specifically, there should have been equal focus on security and safety aspects, equal representation of the opinions of all member states, due consideration for their respective red lines, and a commitment to the specificity and inclusiveness of the OEWG. Therefore, it is important to note that the proposals put forward by a group of countries received more attention than others.

2- Despite the consensus regarding the status of the document and the understanding of its voluntary nature, there has not been a convincing explanation as to why it was not appropriately acknowledged in the preamble as well. It is essential to emphasize that this document and all its provisions are completely voluntary and devoid of any binding obligations. However, it is crucial that this fact should have been clearly stated in both the preamble and operative sections of the document.

3-  Believing in the voluntary nature of the present document, the Islamic Republic of Iran has consistently emphasized that the wording used in the document should be in line with its nature. Consequently, the use of terms with obligatory legal implications should be avoided, yet in practice, such occurrences have taken place in several instances.

4-  Taking into consideration the voluntary and non-binding nature of the adopted outcome document, my delegation would like to express our agreement with only those non-contentious provisions of the document that align with our country's domestic policies, laws, regulations, priorities, and values.

In closing, We hope that future initiatives stemming from this process will take into account the aforementioned observations as well as due attention  to transparency, inclusivity, the mandate and the scope of the work of any respective initiative, aiming to reach a consensus that is freely arrived at.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.