Speaking at the Conference on Disarmament (CD) plenary session, the diplomat stressed the need to tackle this global threat through « urgent, courageous, and progressive action. »
Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones are an important option on the road to nuclear disarmament, he said, underscoring Morocco’s commitment to the effective implementation of the 1995 Resolution to free the Middle East region from nuclear and other mass destruction weapons.
Concluding a verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons is therefore of central importance, the diplomat added, stressing that negotiating such an instrument would only make sense if it was part of the disarmament process.
« In the same vein, the intense and constructive discussions that took place within the CD over the last few years suggest that several issues have reached a threshold of maturity enabling them to be included in this program of work, » he said, referring in particular to negative security guarantees for non-nuclear-weapon states and to preventing an arms race in outer space.
Nevertheless, the stalemate and paralysis, which has lasted for over two decades, threatens the CD’s raison d’être, the diplomat warned.
»It is therefore important to recognize that this body, as the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum, has its rightful place on the global stage, and today more than ever, » he concluded.
