Diplomat condemns delay in creating nuclear-weapons-free zone in Middle East

CAIRO – 1 May 2018: Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Office in Geneva Alaa Youssef denounced the unjustified delay in implementing the Resolution on the Middle East of the Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1995.


In his statement during a meeting of the second preparatory committee for the Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference, Youssef asserted the importance of agreeing on certain steps and a timetable in the next review meetings slated for 2020 to achieve the goal of creating a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.


He stressed that the universality of the NPT should remain a priority, calling for taking the required decisions to make Israel join the treaty especially that it is the only country in the Middle East that is running nuclear facilities outside the safeguards system of the International Atomic Energy Agency.


The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.