Safadi reiterates Jordan’s support for global disarmament efforts

AMMAN — Jordan supports international efforts seeking disarmament, especially nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Wednesday.

In a recorded speech delivered at the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Safadi said that the Kingdom supports efforts aiming at reaching tangible outcomes of the conference in realising the joint goal: Disarmament of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

"We are meeting at a time our world is facing the COVID-19 pandemic and its repercussions, which has underlined the interdependence of our security, interests and the centrality of multilateral action," the minister said.

Safadi added that the conference is one of the channels of collective action that plays a main role in building comprehensive security by working to reduce a common threat.

In this regard, he said that the role of the conference in disarmament issues must be activated, and efforts must be exerted to break the stalemate that the conference has witnessed for more than two decades in light of disagreement on a clear work programme to reach binding international instruments on disarmament.

The deputy prime minister also highlighted the importance for the conference to focus on expanding its membership, which means increased participation in decision-making, and thus increased acceptance of decisions.

The foreign minister pointed out that Jordan stresses the importance of supporting all initiatives aimed at activating international efforts for disarmament, especially nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction,

He also called for launching a comprehensive and balanced dialogue for the success of the 10th review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, slated to be held in New York later this year, by adopting a comprehensive document that reflects a broader consensus on disarmament.

As part of its serious endeavour to achieve this, the Kingdom joined as a founding member of the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament and the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was launched in Sweden in 2019, with the aim of strengthening disarmament diplomacy under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Safadi noted.

The Kingdom has recently hosted the third ministerial conference of the Stockholm Initiative, which adopted an expanded work programme to render the 10th review conference this year a success, the minister added.

He said that Jordan in 2019 chaired the conference held by the United Nations on the establishment of a Middle East Free of Nuclear and Chemical Weapons, reiterating the need to implement the decision of the 1995 review conference to establish a zone free of nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East.

The minister also urged countries sponsoring the resolution to boost their efforts to achieve progress to implement it as soon as possible.

Safadi said that resolving conflicts and regional crises will greatly contribute to building a stimulating environment to limit the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

Work on resolving these conflicts must be intensified, especially in the Middle East, as the region stands at the crossroads of either more conflict and thus more armaments, or creating a regional environment dominated by cooperation, dialogue and peace, and thus more construction and more capabilities devoted to establishing security, achievement and creating opportunities, he added.