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AMMAN – Jordan hosted on Wednesday the third ministerial meeting of the Stockholm Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, with 16 states renewing their commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the world and the Middle East in particular are witnessing “enough crises, tensions and unrest” without the threat of nuclear weapons being added.
“We will continue working to promote nuclear disarmament and the non-proliferation treaty. We envision a nuclear-weapon-free Middle East that has good relations with its neighbors, “said Safadi, who insisted that all Arab countries have” expressed their willingness to enter into friendly relations with Iran. “
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said Iran “must soften its tone and not miss the opportunity for an effective non-proliferation treaty with its recent 20 percent uranium enrichment.”
Maas said Tehran “must show restraint and back down on the dangerous uranium enrichment decision,” adding that the new US leadership led by Joe Biden “could make 2021 the year that sets the course for a world free of nuclear weapons”.
Noting that the last two years with their technological advances have “accelerated the production of nuclear and nuclear weapons rather than slow it down,” Maas said the work of the 16 states at Wednesday’s meeting is “multilaterlaism at its finest and a sign that the nuclear order is on the right track ”.
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde said the meeting, which was co-sponsored by Sweden, is also “a way to involve women and youth in the disarmament debate.”
Linde highlighted “Sweden’s support for UNRWA and the services it provides to Palestinian refugees,” and Safadi noted that visits by the German and Swedish foreign ministers are “an opportunity to discuss their bilateral relations with the Kingdom and the effort and support they provide for Jordan to host Syrian and Palestinian refugees ”.
The Secretary General of the UN, António Guterres, participated in the meeting with a recorded message.
The ministers said in a joint statement after the conference: “We renew our call on all nuclear-weapon states to show leadership, address and reduce nuclear risks, and promote nuclear disarmament by taking meaningful steps to implement commitments under the NPT.” .
“Recalling our declaration ‘The NPT at 50: Advancing nuclear disarmament, securing our future’, adopted last year in Berlin, we reaffirm the ‘stepping stones’ it contains as 22 concrete proposals to advance on the path to a world free of nuclear weapons weapons ”, they added.
Speaking to The Jordan Times, Safadi said that while the meetings discuss nuclear non-proliferation with states, they also work to prevent the acquisition of nuclear weapons by non-state actors.
“We know that terrorist organizations feed on chaos and the absence of hope, so if we want to eliminate the threat of a nuclear crisis, we must resolve the crises in the region in a way that satisfies all parties and ends the chaos. , ” he said.
