Twelve Nations Condemn Attacks and Threats Against Nuclear Facilities
According to the International Desk of Webangah News Agency, twelve nations, including Belarus, Burkina Faso, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Niger, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Zimbabwe, issued a joint declaration at the 81st session of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. The declaration explicitly prohibits any attack or threat of attack against nuclear sites and facilities.
The participating countries emphasized that nuclear facilities under the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safeguards and dedicated to peaceful purposes must never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attack or threat of aggression.
Gholamhossein Darzi, Iran’s Ambassador and Chargé d’Affaires to the United Nations, read the eight-point statement at the UN General Assembly’s First Committee session. The statement underscored several key points:
1. Affirmation of the IAEA’s objectives and the right of all states to peaceful nuclear energy development without discrimination.
2. Recalling UN Security Council Resolution 487 (1981) which strongly condemned military attacks on nuclear facilities, and referencing related decisions and resolutions from the IAEA General Conference that reflect the international community’s long-standing opposition to attacks or threats against safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities.
3. Reiteration that attacks or threats of attack against nuclear facilities violate the UN Charter, international law, and the IAEA Statute, and are fundamentally contrary to the objectives of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
4. Emphasis on the serious consequences of attacks on nuclear facilities for nuclear safety and security, posing a significant threat to the integrity, effectiveness, and credibility of the IAEA’s safeguards system and the broader global non-proliferation architecture.
5. Highlighting the negative impact of attacks on nuclear facilities on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and international cooperation, potentially leading to the release of radioactive materials with dire consequences, severe impacts on civilian populations, and long-term environmental damage.
6. Stressing that silence in the face of attacks on protected nuclear facilities undermines established international norms, erodes confidence in the international legal order, and increases the risk of normalizing such attacks.
7. A strong reconfirmation that nuclear facilities must never, under any circumstances, be subjected to attack or threat of attack.
8. An appeal to all member states to unite in safeguarding the integrity and credibility of the IAEA’s safeguards system, strengthening nuclear safety and security, and protecting the peaceful applications of nuclear energy and international cooperation by clearly and unequivocally expressing opposition to any attack or threat of attack against nuclear facilities.
