Vienna: Qatar has affirmed the importance of enhancing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) system to ensure that nuclear activities are not diverted for other purposes, highlighting the essential role of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system, along with the Additional Protocol, as cornerstones of the international verification regime, in achieving the objectives of the NPT.
This statement was delivered by Director of International Organizations Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar H E Ali bin Khalfan Al Mansouri, during the general debate of the first preparatory committee for the eleventh review conference of the NPT, currently held in Vienna.
He said that the IAEA remains the only international organisation concerned with nuclear verification, and all of us need to support its efforts to carry out this role. He emphasised that the international verification system will remain limited without accompanying efforts to halt the nuclear arms race, reduce nuclear arsenals, and ultimately achieve complete nuclear disarmament.
Al Mansouri further mentioned that they begin the work of the first preparatory committee for the 2026 review conference following the consecutive failures of the 2015 and 2022 review conferences, amid the deteriorating international geopolitical environment, where expanding and horizontal nuclear arsenals pose the most serious threat to humanity and civilization.
He emphasised the significance of the NPT as an effective tool for collective security through practical steps taken to implement its three pillars: nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear disarmament, and peaceful uses of atomic energy.
He stressed the urgent need to establish legally binding international instruments that grant non-nuclear-weapon states unconditional security assurances against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons by the five nuclear-weapon states.
Al Mansouri said that the right to the peaceful use of atomic energy is an inherent right of states, and it is an integral part of their right to development. He urged advanced nuclear-industry states to provide scientific and technical assistance to developing countries in need of greater support and broader international cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the UN SDGs. He called on Israel to accede to the NPT and to apply the safeguards system to its nuclear facilities, as such action would not only pave the way for the establishment of the zone but also contribute to the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the region.
