Mikdad The West does not perform obligations in arms control, ignores Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons

Damascus, SANA- Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Fayssal Mikdad, stressed that Western countries do not perform their obligations in the fields of disarmament and arms control, especially nuclear weapons, and insist on following approach of hegemony and military superiority at the expense of the stability , indicating that the West blatantly ignores Israel’s possession of nuclear capabilities.

Syria welcomes the valuable participation of the UN Secretary-General in discussions this year, hoping that it may generate impetus required to resume the substantive work of the conference and reach comprehensive and balanced program of work maintaining the conference’s principles, Mikdad said in a statement today via video before the High-Level Segment of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.

Convening this Conference is an exceptional opportunity for Member States to renew their commitments in the areas of disarmament and arms control, especially in the nuclear field, Mikdad went on to say.

Mikdad voiced his regret that speeches of some states in this forum are not matched by their actions, “as we see year by year decreasing in their commitments at the regional and international levels”.

Mikdad stated that the Western countries that have long harangued in this forum misleading calls for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, blatantly ignore the Israeli occupation entity’s possession of nuclear capabilities outside the framework of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement, and turn blind eyes and deaf ears to the statements of the so-called Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage in the Israeli occupation government that “Israel could use a nuclear bomb against the Palestinian people in Gaza”, in complete disregard for the well-established international standards against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons.

Instead of condemning such statements, we see a suspicious international silence, Mikdad added.

Mikdad said that Syria has been working hard to establish a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East, indicating that despite the importance of holding UN conference on such issue, but it does not constitute an alternative path to the 1995 “Resolution on the Middle East”.

“Israel” and its sponsor, the US, still refuse to participate in the annual sessions of this conference that began in 2019, in which all countries of the region participate

My country has chosen to be part of the collective international efforts for disarmament and arms control, and this was demonstrated by its signing, ratification or accession to most of the basic legal instruments in the field of non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control, the most recent of which is its accession to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and its implementation of all its obligations.

However, Syria’s experience with the OPCW revealed the dominance of Western countries over the work of its technical secretariat, and their work to target Syria, the State party to the convention, and launch international propaganda campaigns hostile to the Syrian State.

Mikdad stressed that Syria, despite the tension and complexity in the current international security environment, will work alongside member States that are serious about their efforts to activate the role of this Conference, as the only international multilateral negotiating forum concerned with disarmament.

Syria hopes that there will be a sincere political will to implement the conference’s negotiating mandate, and to respect the rules of its procedures and principles, Mikdad added.