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Ammon News - Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi Monday partook in the tenth review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that started today at the UN HQ in New York.

Safadi participated in the meeting called by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which was attended by heads of delegation participating in the conference to exchange views on ways to make the work of the tenth review conference a success.

Safadi highlighted before the conference the importance of continuing work to make the Middle East a region free of all weapons of mass destruction, noting that the region suffers from crises and does not need another problem related to nuclear armament.

He said that Jordan is committed to supporting the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and to working with the international community to ensure compliance with the Treaty and the implementation of all its provisions, especially to ensure that the Middle East is free of all weapons of mass destruction.

Safadi noted that Jordan's participation in the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty to ensure an international environment that affirms commitment to the Treaty is an indication of Jordan's commitment.

He emphasised "the need to work to solve all the problems facing our region and to solve the crises we are facing, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution and to work to solve the Syrian crisis, the Libyan crisis, and other crises that deprive our region of its right to achieve security, stability, development and prosperity."

Safadi said that solving regional problems and crises would also contribute to preventing the region from entering into nuclear arms conflicts, adding that Jordan's position is to support efforts aimed at reviving the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Safadi had delivered the statement of the Arab group at the conference in light of Jordan's assumption of the monthly presidency of the Arab group.

The statement noted that Arab countries attach "great importance to strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation system, achieving the universality of the Treaty and implementing its provisions.

"We stress in the group the need to work to increase the effectiveness of the non-proliferation system in preventing the transfer and development of nuclear technology for non-peaceful purposes, which makes the safeguards system commitment," the statement read.

"The IAEA is the only verification body, with preserving the inherent and inalienable right of member states, by Article 4 of the Treaty, regarding peaceful uses, and rejecting any attempts to impose restrictions or conditions on it," it added.

The statement noted that "the membership of all Arab countries to the Treaty and subjecting their nuclear facilities to the comprehensive safeguards system is evidence of their commitment to disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation." The statement added, "The treaty's credibility is based on balancing its three pillars on the one hand, and achieving its universality on the other."

The statement of the Arab group added that the Treaty was reached based on a deal that obliges the nuclear states to get rid of their weapons in exchange for the commitment of other states not to seek to acquire these weapons.

The Arab group noted that the nuclear states have not implemented their commitment to set a timeframe for disarmament. Accordingly, the group expresses its "deep concern over the attempts of some nuclear states to reinterpret their obligations under Article VI or to link their implementation to preconditions."

The statement highlights that the non-proliferation treaty faces "several challenges, including the absence of efforts to achieve universality of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, repeated cases of non-compliance with the provisions of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the lack of balance between safeguard systems applied to the parties to the Treaty and those applicable to non-parties.

The group notes that Israel's failure to accede to the treaty deprives the IAEA of using any comprehensive mechanisms to verify the nature of its nuclear programme.