PNN – Several countries have issued a joint statement expressing their opposition to any attack—or threat of attack—against nuclear sites and facilities.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network; 12 nations—Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Zimbabwe—issued a joint statement during the 81st session of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, calling for a prohibition on any attacks or threats of attacks against nuclear sites and facilities.
In the statement, these countries emphasized that nuclear facilities—which are subject to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and dedicated to peaceful purposes—must never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attacks or threats of aggression.
Gholamhossein Darzi, Ambassador and Chargé d’Affaires of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations, delivered this statement—comprising eight points—during a meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, as follows:
1- We emphasize the importance of the full and effective realization of the objectives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—particularly its statutory mandate to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health, and prosperity throughout the world—and reaffirm the inalienable right of all states to develop research, production, and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, without discrimination.
2- We recall United Nations Security Council Resolution 487 (1981), in which a military attack against nuclear facilities is strongly condemned. We also recall the relevant decisions and resolutions of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency—namely, documents GC(53)/DEC/13, GC(XXIX)/RES/443, GC(XXIX)/RES/444, and GC(XXXIV)/RES/533—which clearly reflect the long-standing position of the international community in opposition to attacks, or threats of attack, against nuclear facilities that are subject to Agency safeguards and devoted to peaceful purposes.
- We reiterate that an attack or the threat of an attack, against nuclear facilities constitutes a violation of the principles of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Statute of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and is fundamentally inconsistent with the goals and objectives of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
- We emphasize that attacks on nuclear facilities have serious consequences for nuclear safety and security, and pose a grave threat to the integrity, effectiveness, and credibility of the IAEA safeguards system, as well as the broader global non-proliferation architecture.
5- We emphasize that attacks against nuclear facilities will have a negative impact on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and international cooperation, and may lead to the release of radioactive materials with dire consequences both within and beyond the borders of the affected state—including severe impacts on the civilian population and long-term damage to the environment.
6- We emphasize that remaining silent in the face of attacks against protected nuclear facilities undermines established international norms, erodes confidence in the international legal order, and increases the risk of such attacks becoming normalized.
- Therefore, we reiterate that nuclear facilities must never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attack or the threat of attack.
- We call upon all Member States to stand united in upholding the integrity and credibility of the IAEA safeguards system, strengthening nuclear safety and security, and protecting the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and international cooperation, by expressing clear and unequivocal opposition to any attack or threat of attack against nuclear facilities.