IAEA approves Egypt's decision to implement safeguards in Middle East

CAIRO – 26 September 2017: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has approved Egypt’s decision to implement the agency’s system of safeguards in the Middle East, said Egypt’s ambassador to the International Organizations in Vienna, Omar Amer.

His statement was issued by Egypt’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

Amer added that Egypt proposed to impose the IAEA safeguards in the Middle East region during the 61th round of the agency’s annual conference held in Vienna, adding that the Egyptian decision was endorsed by 123 countries; however, five other countries abstained.

“The Egyptian decision did not receive any ‘NO’ during the voting process,” Amer stressed.

He added that the approval of the Egyptian decision reflects an important progress in sincere efforts to eliminate the region from nuclear weapons.