Iran convened a conference titled "International Disarmament and Non-proliferation: World Security without Weapons of Mass Destruction" on 17 and 18 April 2010 in Tehran. The theme of the conference was Nuclear Energy for All, Nuclear Weapons for No One.Tehran nuclear disarmament conference will be a success:Iran Foreign Ministry Spokesman
The conference resulted in Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for action toward the elimination of all nuclear weapons.
Background
The New START treaty was signed on 8 April 2010, in Prague by US president Barack Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. This treaty resumed the START process of reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the two nations, for the first time requiring verifiability between them.
The conference was held just days after a Nuclear Security Summit was held in Washington, DC on 12–14 April over the security of "vulnerable nuclear material."Iran to host conference on nuclear disarmament This conference was viewed as a counterpoint to the Washington summit. Aljazeera.net Its intention was to prove Iran's national and political will for the eradication of nuclear weapons, where Iran said the chemical weapons convention determined such weapons should be destroyed but the United States had chosen to ignore it.CMS.MFA.gov.ir
In May 2010, the review conference for the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was held at United Nations headquarters in New York City.Disarmament: NGOs Praise U.S. Leadership on Nukes
In May 2009, the EastWest Institute released a joint US-Russian Threat Assessment on Iran's Nuclear and Missile Potential. The report said there was no specific evidence that Iran was seeking the ability to attack Europe and that "it is indeed difficult to imagine the circumstances in which Iran would do so." It added that if Iran did pursue this capability, it would need six to eight years to develop a missile capable of carrying a 1,000 kilogram warhead 2,000 kilometers; and that Iran ending "IAEA containment and surveillance of the nuclear material and all installed cascades at the Fuel Enrichment Plan" might serve as an early warning of Iranian intentions. The report concluded that there was "no IRBM/ICBM threat from Iran and that such a threat, even if it were to emerge, is not imminent."East-West Institute: Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential Incoming Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano said he had not seen any evidence in IAEA official documents that Iran was seeking the ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Participants Experts and officials from about 60 countries were invited to the conference. As of 15 April only 35 countries had indicated they would send delegations, 24 of whom would be Foreign or Deputy Foreign Ministers. Many non-governmental organisations were also to be present.Almanar.com.lb
CountryNameTitleVael al-AssadRepresentativeAtomic Energy Organization of IranAli Akbar SalehiVice President and HeadCTBTOJean Du PreezList of speakers (17 April) RepresentativeSenior IAEA officials to participate in Tehran conference on nuclear disarmament Ekmeleddin İhsanoğluWeapons of mass destruction are haram: LeaderSecretary GeneralTaijiro KimuraDirector of the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmmament for Asia and the PacificIran Calls For New Body To Oversee Nuclear Disarmament Edward NalbandianForeign MinisterOfficial website Ben ShahedaniGeneral Director of the Diplomatic Relationship and International Security of AlgeriaVictor RybakAmbassadorCheng GuopingAssistant Foreign MinisterSh. Gaddam DharmendraGeneral Director of Disarmament and International Security of IndiaMarty NatalegawaMinister of Foreign Affairs of Unitary Republic of Indonesia hostMahmoud AhmadinejadPresidentJalal Talabani / Hoshyar ZebariAlmanar.com.lb President / Foreign MinisterAlmanar.com.lb Mohammad Abdullah Abu Al-HassanSpecial envoyAlmanar.com.lb Ali al-ShamiMinister of Foreign AffairsDato Lee Chee LeongDeputy Foreign MinisterYussef bin Alawai bin AbdullahForeign MinisterM. B. AbbasiAmbassadorAmbassadorMahammed ben Abdollah al—RomeihiDeputy Foreign MinisterSergei RyabkovDeputy Foreign MinisterUmej BhatiaCounselor to the Foreign MinisterWalid MuallemForeign MinisterJumaAmbassadorGurbanguly Berdimuhamedow / Rasid MeredovPresident / Foreign MinisterHakki AkilDeputy Foreign MinisterOkello OryemMinister of State for International AffairsJorge ValeroDeputy Foreign MinisterBorniface ChidyausikuPermanent Representative to the United Nations
The US was officially registered as a participant, but denied having been invited (see controversies).
Issues The conference was composed of three panels focusing on the following topics: Disarmament challenges; International obligations of States for disarmament and non-proliferation and consequences of the continued existence of WMDs; Practical steps for the materialization of disarmament.Tehran International Conference on Disarmament and Non- Proliferation
Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said he had "stressed that nuclear energy must be for everybody. While [the Washington summit] discussed the protection of nuclear material, in this coming conference we will emphasise the necessity of disarmament."
Discussions Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei sent a message to the nuclear disarmament conference clarifying that "Iran regards using nuclear weapons as forbidden in Islam and it is incumbent on everyone to safeguard humanity from such weapons," while "every nation is entitled to the peaceful use of this technology." He called the US the world's "only nuclear scofflaw" for its advocating of arms control while maintaining a huge nuclear arsenal of its own as well as support for Israel notwithstanding their nuclear arsenal despite not being a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).Iran lashes out at U.S. during Tehran nuclear summit (The US and Iran are signatories of the NPT.)Federation of American Scientists, "Signatories and parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of nuclear weapons," FAS.org
Ahmadinejad said that "threatening with nuclear weapons only dishonoured the American government officials and more fully exposed their inhumane and aggressive policies." He also called for more rigorous action than that outlined by the US summit. His comments drew applause when he called for the destruction of all atomic weapons, starting with those in the US arsenal.Washington Post, 17 April 2010, "At Iran Nuclear Summit, Ahmadinejad Calls for U.S. to Disarm First", WashingtonPost.com He further called on the US to end its "blind support" for Israel, which he estimated has 200 atomic warheads but has failed to sign the NPT. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated a religious edict he had issued earlier against the use of all nuclear weapons, and called the nuclear arsenal of the US "tools of terror and intimidation." Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said that a nuclear weapons-free Middle East requires "the Zionist regime [Israel] to join the NPT." This was seen as a call for Israel to open up its nuclear facilities to international inspectors. The Secretary General of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, added that "Israel should ink the NPT without any waste of time," adding that the Middle East should be turned into a region free from nuclear weapons. He also called for tangible measures in this regard, and cautioned that "Either you should destroy the WMDs or they will kill us."CMS.MFA.gov.ir
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi said the NPT was under threat as it currently stood. "If countries armed with nuclear weapons want to respect and bolster NPT, they should fully fulfill their pledges to this end. There is no doubt that [the] continuation of [a] nuclear arms race and adoption of dual-standard policies in dealing with peaceful nuclear energy will create a challenge for the world. If policies such as selective approaches, use of language of threat, unjust and dual standard policies are not halted at the earliest opportunities, NPT will lose its legitimacy and the IAEA will be deviated from its main principles." He added that "interference [from] certain western countries [are] weakening of the NPT's letter of association, the body is now serving [the] United Nations Security Council which pursues motivated policies of [a] few countries."CMS.MFA.gov.ir In this vein, the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Saeed Jalili, called for strengthening of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the only way to stop nuclear proliferation. According to IRNA, Jalili said "preventing Major powers from imposing their influence on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is another way of promoting nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and strengthening of NPT."Jalili Stresses Strengthening NPT for N-Disarmament, Non-Proliferation As Iranian chief nuclear negotiator, Jalili, underlined Tehran's commitment to dialogue to remove concerns through the implementation of undertakings of all the relevant sides.Jalili: N. Armed States Incompetent to Fulfill Disarmament He put forward a proposal which consists of three pillars: A clear timetable be drawn up for the elimination of all nuclear weapons and an international verification mechanism for the nuclear activities of nuclear-weapon states. This verification mechanism should be similar to the one used to verify the fulfillment of commitments by non-nuclear weapon states under article 3 of NPT. A fact-finding committee to be established by the IAEA to investigate the sources of proliferation of nuclear weapons to the Zionist regime and report the results of its findings to the Security Council and the General Assembly during current year. In the framework of nonproliferation measures, nuclear-weapon states be prohibited from any kind of nuclear cooperation with non-members and commit themselves not to transfer any kind of nuclear material, equipment and technology.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA said he had offered proposals for a better future for the IAEA.
Results A 15-point communique was released at the end of the conference.Salamiran.org
Ahmadinejad called for "an independent international group which plans and oversees nuclear disarmament and prevents proliferation...This group should act in a way where all independent countries and governments could have a say and role in running the affairs of that group. Until now the presence and political domination of the agency has prevented them from carrying out their duties and has diverted the agency from performing its legal obligations." He also took blows at the United States in saying "[Those who] possess, have used or threatened to use nuclear weapons [should] be suspended from the IAEA and its board of governors, especially the US which has used a weapon made of atomic waste in the Iraq war." He suggested that the United States and its vast arsenal of atomic warheads was delaying the long-awaited prospect of global nuclear disarmament. He said its so-called deterrence policy had been the primary reason behind the proliferation of WMD's in recent years. "Washington has not only applied nuclear weapons against other nations, but has for years threatened to use weapons of mass destruction against world countries in order to gain the upper hand...such countries should be stripped of their membership to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). They have no place [in the UN nuclear watchdog] or its Board of Governors."SMS.MFA.gov.ir Iran's ambassador to the IAEA said he had offered proposals to better the body in the future.