Iran calls for global nuclear disarmament

Speaking at the meeting of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear-Weapons on Tuesday, the acting deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs of Iran Reza Najafi said, "Achieving global nuclear disarmament and eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons is a legal, political and moral responsibility for all states, in general, and the Nuclear Weapon States, in particular."

He described the occasion as an opportunity to renew the global compact to pursue the complete destruction of nuclear weapons as an objective priority, saying, "Iran strongly rejects the retention, stockpiling, development, use, and proliferation of nuclear weapons at the global and regional levels."

He criticized the nuclear-weapon states for still relying on nuclear deterrence and planning to "not only modernize but also strengthen their nuclear arsenals, which is a gross violation of the spirit and letter of the NPT."

The official blamed the deadlock on nuclear disarmament on Washington's aggressive nuclear policy and urged the US and other nuclear-weapon states to fulfill "their international obligations on nuclear disarmament and implement them earnestly".

"Iran emphasizes the fundamental importance of the implementation of the 1995 Middle East Resolution," he said, adding, "The nuclear weapons of the Israeli regime continue to threaten the peace and security of the Middle East region and beyond."

He also called on the international community to reaffirm the importance of accession of the Israeli regime to the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon party and without any precondition and the placement of all of its nuclear facilities under the IAEA’s full-scope safeguards.

Slamming Saudi Arabia for preventing the IAEA from full monitoring and verification regime about its nuclear program, he described the accusations made by the representative of Saudi Arabia against Iran’s nuclear program as being "baseless".

"The international community should call upon Riyadh to immediately bring into force the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements in full," he said, adding, "Halting nuclear assistance to Saudi Arabia is the only way that can alleviate these concerns about Saudi Arabia."