Nuclear Weapons States Issue Strong Nonproliferation Signal By Jacquelyn S. Porth Washington -- Delegates to a two-week conference in Geneva to review the 40-year-old nuclear nonproliferation regime spent considerable time on challenges posed by Iranian and North Korean nuclear endeavors. At the conclusion of the discussions May 9, the nuclear weapons states attending the 2008 Preparatory Commission meeting to examine the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) issued a statement pointing to the proliferation risks posed by Iran’s nuclear program and calling them “a matter of ongoing serious concern.” This was the first time that France, the United Kingdom, China, Russia and the United States agreed to a statement in the context of the “PrepCom” meetings, which are held ahead of more formal treaty reviews conducted every five years. Representatives from those countries said international peace and security is threatened by nuclear proliferation and that the NPT regime needs to be strengthened now to thrive in the future. Their statement called on Iran to respond to the concerns of the international community “through prompt and full implementation” of the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and International Atomic Energy Agency requirements. The delegates also expressed support for the existing negotiating process, including a May 2 offer of economic incentives to Iran if it agrees to curtail its nuclear program. The five nations also voiced support for moving the Six-Party Talks forward to eliminate nuclear weapons verifiably from the Korean Peninsula, urged the implementation of all relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions and called on Japan, the two Koreas, China, Russia and the United States to continue cooperation as agreed to in the 2005 round of talks. The Geneva statement by the five original nuclear powers says nuclear weapons proliferation “undermines the security of all nations, imperils the prospects for progress on other important NPT goals, such as nuclear disarmament, and hurts prospect for expanding international nuclear cooperation.” The head of the U.S. delegation said this statement “is a manifestation of the constructive approach” demonstrated at the April 28-May 9 meetings -- the second of three in a set before the full review of the NPT in 2010. Christopher Ford said that, unlike the 2007 session, which was beset by unproductive procedural wrangling by Iran, “we had a solid two weeks of sharing of views” with constructive contributions all around. He told America.gov the session was “very positive” and has put delegations “well on the way to fulfilling the purposes of the review cycle.” Ford praised the session’s chairman, Ukrainian diplomat Volodymyr Yel’chencko, for his hard work and good judgment in shepherding the meeting to its successful conclusion. One of the dominant themes of the meeting was the importance of promoting international nuclear cooperation in ways designed to prevent proliferation of technology and expertise. Ford said he believes nations understand that “nuclear power is increasingly going to need to be part the developing world’s energy and development mix,” and because of that, “it is especially important that we figure out how to ensure that that expansion -- which everyone supports -- occurs in way that make sense from a [non] proliferation perspective.” Many working papers and presentations about peaceful uses of nuclear energy were submitted during the session. While this traditionally is a major topic at these meetings, Ford said he thought the subject had “particular salience this time.” The five-powers statement, in fact, emphasizes the need for the 2010 Review Conference to address the right of the 106 NPT members to pursue peaceful uses of nuclear energy “in a safe and secure fashion.” (end text)
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