Statement by

H.E. Mr. Asadollah Eshragh Jahromi

Director General for International Peace and Security

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran

Final Meeting of the Tenth NPT Review Conference

New York – 26 August 2022

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

Mr. President,

I would like to begin by sincerely appreciating your hard efforts, diligence, and serenity in steering the work of this Review Conference. 

I would also like to associate with the statement made by Indonesia on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a steadfast supporter of a world free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, views the NPT as the collective foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and with a strong conviction and objective to strengthen this international framework, entered this Review Conference and engaged in negotiations with the spirit of goodwill, flexibility, and compromise.   

The Islamic Republic of Iran shared the desire to see that the Conference could conclude its work successfully by the adoption of a meaningful final document.

But unfortunately, that is not the case. My delegation believes that the draft final document which was presented for adoption, fell short of providing a meaningful outcome, due to the following reasons:

First and foremost, the issue of the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East is of fundamental importance to Iran. However, the text on the Middle East in the draft final document contained in paragraphs 165 to 172 was the product of a non-transparent and non-inclusive process which Iran was not part of that. My delegation was never provided with an opportunity to participate in consultations regarding the text and its drafting.

 On substance, the text on the Middle East continued to disregard the agreed basis and language on the Middle East issue, endorsed and adopted by the 2000 and 2010 Review Conferences in which the urgency of achieving universality of the Treaty in the Middle East and the importance of Israel’s accession to the Treaty and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East were clearly reaffirmed. Several times during this week my delegation did its best effort to engage constructively on this important issue to find a solution to narrow the differences based on the agreed and consensus language of previous Review Conferences.

Only due to the intransigent position of one Nuclear-Weapon State in rejecting the agreed language, the text on the Middle East issue fell short of preserving what was achieved at previous Review Conferences and did not reflect the developments that had taken place since 2010.

Indeed, the Israeli regime is the only one in the Middle East that has not acceded to the NPT and refuses to place its nuclear facilities under the comprehensive safeguards regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Moreover, this regime impedes all serious international efforts to establish a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

On the nuclear disarmament pillar, there was no concrete, time-bound, and measurable commitment by the nuclear-weapon States to make urgent progress over the next review cycle in fulfilling their nuclear disarmament obligations under article VI of the Treaty. There were many clauses in the forward-looking section on disarmament that have been repeatedly misused and interpreted by the nuclear-weapon States as preconditions for the implementation of nuclear disarmament obligations.

On the negative security assurances, despite the strong demand of the overwhelming majority of the non-nuclear-weapon States including NAM for adopting an unambiguous declaratory commitment by nuclear-weapons States to not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States, it was disappointing to see that paragraph 32 (b) in the latest revised draft final document presented by the President of this Conference, merely reflected the dangerous position and policy of NATO’s nuclear-weapon States.

On the non-proliferation pillar, the content of the review and forward-looking part of the draft document contained new interpretations of the existing obligations of the non-nuclear-weapon States parties under the Treaty and safeguards agreement and created new commitments and constraints on them. The outcome documents of the Review Conferences should not impose new commitments on non-nuclear-weapon States while the nuclear-weapon States are not complying with their nuclear disarmament obligations and commitments and there is a lack of progress in this regard.

The Islamic Republic of Iran remains steadfast in its support for upholding the integrity of the NPT in all three pillars. The continuing crisis of non-compliance with nuclear disarmament obligations as well as the failure to implement relevant disarmament commitments agreed upon at the Review Conferences has seriously undermined confidence in the Treaty. There is an urgent need for progress on the implementation of nuclear disarmament obligations by nuclear-weapon States. The balance of the NPT should be restored by the full, effective and urgent implementation of nuclear disarmament obligations.

I thank you, Mr. President.