Egypt's permanent rep. to UN calls for fulfilling obligations on nuclear disarmament

CAIRO – 5 August 2022: Egypt’s Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Osama Abdel Khalek affirmed the need that the nuclear-weapon countries fulfill their multilateral legal obligations regarding nuclear disarmament, state’s news agency MENA reported.

Abdel Khalek made the remarks in Egypt's statement before the Main Committee I on the Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons held in New York from August 1 to 26.

Abdel Khalek shed light on the serious developments linked to the formation of new security alliances that directly pose a threat to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and will have a negative impact on nuclear disarmament efforts.

He also highlighted the policy of double standards that some countries adopt in this regard, especially in light of not seeking to achieve universality of the treaty.

He added that the proposal, which some nuclear states bring forward, is based on the fact that the security environment and the international political situation are not conducive to move forward with the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

He stressed that Egypt considers this as an erroneous and unconvincing logic. This is in addition to the fact that nuclear disarmament is mainly a legal obligation that should not be linked to estimates or political alignments.

He further elaborated that there is a clear difference between dealing with chemical and biological weapons on the one hand and nuclear weapons on the other, which affects the credibility of the entire system and reduces its effectiveness.

He also stressed the importance of addressing the growing awareness of the international community of the dangerous humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, which contributed to concluding the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Any measures taken to reduce nuclear risks should not be a substitute for nuclear disarmament, the Egyptian envoy said.

He underlined the importance of working on establishing Middle East as Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in implementation of the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

In December, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi met with Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi.

Grossi hailed Egypt's central contributions - on the regional and international scales - in the field of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, asserting the agency's support to the country’s Dabaa nuclear project.