Qatar calls for IAEA safeguards to nuclear activities in Mideast

Qatar has called for supporting the efforts of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the early application of the agency’s comprehensive safeguards agreements (CSAs) to all nuclear activities in the Middle East as a fundamental step towards the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone.Addressing the IAEA Governing Council meeting, Qatar’s ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisation in Vienna, Sheikh Ali bin Jassim al-Thani said that Qatar believes that the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East that would accelerate international efforts to achieve a peaceful and lasting solution in the region and to rid the world of nuclear weapons.Qatar expressed regret over the lack of implementation of the international resolutions on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, stressing the importance of implementing these resolutions, especially in the current circumstances which are witnessing a serious escalation as North Korea continues its nuclear weapons programme in the absence of international supervision.