Saudi Arabia calls for nuclear-free Middle East

Saudi Arabia has called on the international community to establish a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.

This came in remarks by Prince Saud Bin Badr Bin Saud Bin Abdulaziz, a member of the Kingdom’s delegation to the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at UN headquarters in New York.

The prince explained that “the establishment of a Middle East free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction is a collective responsibility at the international level”, adding  the international community, the United Nations and the state parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons must fulfill their obligations to establish this zone in order to promote peace, security and stability in the Middle East and the world.

The prince said the kingdom is concerned about the failure of the parties to establish a specific time frame for the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East.

The prince has also called on the international community to pressure Israel as the only state in the Middle East that has not signed the treaty to subject all its nuclear installations to inspect by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as outlined in UN Security Council resolutions.

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