Qatar has expressed gratitude for the exceptional efforts made by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to confront the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, including the initiative presented by the IAEA director-general to assist member states with nuclear-derived technologies to detect virus infection, stressing determination to continue to support IAEA's efforts in this field and other areas.
In a statement delivered via video conferencing to the IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, HE the Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations and international organisations in Vienna ambassador, Sultan bin Salmeen al-Mansouri, addressed the Israeli nuclear capabilities.
He said in this regard that Qatar regrets that efforts to establish a free zone of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East have been hindered by the absence of political will by some parties, including parties that adopted the Middle East resolution within the resolutions pack of the 1995 Review Conference.
The ambassador referred to the UN General Assembly Resolution No.(A/RES/74/75) of December 23, 2019, which confirmed, among other things, that the resolution on the Middle East adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty will remain in effect to achieve its goals and objectives, calling for immediate steps to be taken to fully implement that resolution.
At the end of his statement, HE al-Mansouri underscored that the many challenges facing multilateralism and efforts to disarmament and control armament in this difficult period require that everyone be at the level of responsibility so that the next Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons can overcome the obstacles that accompanied the 2015 Review Conference. He warned that the failure of the next conference to achieve tangible results regarding the disarmament of the Middle East region of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction will lead to weakening the confidence in the credibility of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation and the non-proliferation system itself.
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