Towards Weapons of Mass DestructionFree Zone in the Middle East
Dr. Vladimir Orlov
President, PIR Center
April 19, 2013
«Pursuant to consistent implementation of the Russian
foreign policy course […] I hereby decree: the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, together with
other federal executive bodies: […] are instructed to support
the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free of
weapons of mass destruction and means of their delivery».
Russian Presidential Decree of May 7, 2012
«On measures to implement the Russian Federation's foreign
policy course»
PIR Center International Seminar:
«2012 Conference on the Middle East Zone Free of
Weapons of Mass Destruction – Searching for
Solutions»
October 4, 2012
With the participation of
officials from Russian Foreign
Ministry, Rosatom state
corporation, think-tanks.
Brought together
representatives of Israel, Iran,
Gulf states, Arab league, the
USA, Russia.
Ambassador Jaakko Laajava of
Finland worked closely with all
the relevant parties and the
conveners.
However
the
Conference
scheduled for December, 2012
never took place.
No future arrangements were
made ahead of the 2nd PrepCom
for the NPT Review Conference
PIR Center brings solutions
to get out of the deadlock
and move toward a WMDFree Zone in the Middle East
Nuclear Nonproliferation in the
Middle East
Other Weapons of Mass Destruction
in the Middle East
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
1) All participants in the talks to establish a WMD-free zone should make
joint statements in which they commit themselves to refrain from attacks
(including cyberattacks), or threats of attacks, against each other’s declared
nuclear facilities placed under IAEA Safeguards.
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
2) As part of the negotiations, the participants should draw a Road Map for
gradually placing all nuclear infrastructure facilities in the region under the
IAEA safeguards.
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
3) During the talks, all the states in the region should reach an understanding
on the need to ratify without any further delay the Additional Protocol to the
IAEA Safeguards Agreement.
Signed and ratified: Bahrain,
Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania,
Morocco, Qatar, UAE, Yemen
Signed but not ratified: Iran, Iraq,
Tunisia
Not signed: Egypt, Israel, Lebanon,
Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
4) Standing regional mechanism for confidence building measures with regard
to nuclear programs, as well as chemical and biological weapons and some
types of delivery systems.
Chemical Weapons Convention
not in force: Egypt, Israel, Syria
Biological and Toxin Weapons
Convention not in force: Egypt,
Israel, Mauritania, Syria
Geneva Protocol not in force:
Mauritania, Oman, UEA
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
5) Participation of all the Middle Eastern states in the Comprehensive Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty should be a precondition for signing a treaty establishing a
WMD-free zone in the region.
CTBT Annex 4 states in the
Middle East: Egypt,
Iran and Israel.
CTBT signed but not ratified:
Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Yemen
CTBT not signed: Israel, Saudi
Arabia, Syria
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
6) Signing agreements to ban certain types of missiles would help build
confidence and establish verification mechanisms in the region.
Missile class
Range, km
Examples in the
region in 2012
Short-range
500-1,000
Shahab-2 (Iran)
Medium-range
1,000-3,500
Jericho-2 (Israel),
Shahab-3 (Iran),
DongFeng 3A
(Saudi Arabia)
Intermediaterange and ICBMs
Over 3,500
None
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
7) Internationalizing/regionalizing the nuclear fuel cycle
Examples to follow:
Eurodif
URENCO
The International Uranium
Enrichment Center
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
8) Institutional nuclear cooperation in the Middle East through the creation
of a universal body which would include every country in the region.
Integration projects in the
nuclear energy sector of
the Middle East:
The Arab Atomic Energy
Agency (AAEA)
The Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC)
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
9) Reliable mechanisms for early warning in the event of a nuclear accident
Bushehr
Iran
Akkuyu
Turkey
?
UAE
Barakah
Sinop
Jordan
Khirbet Al
Samra
Ten Steps toward the WMD-Free
Zone in the Middle East
10) Decision to set up an intergovernmental
commission to draft the text of the treaty
establishing a WMD-free zone in the Middle East.
This should be done with the understanding that
during the work on the text of the treaty all countries
in the region will join the Chemical Weapons
Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin
Weapons Convention (BTWC). The treaty should also
establish verification mechanisms.
10steps.eng.pircenter.org
10steps.pircenter.org
To get free full access to the Security
Index journal 2011-2012 archive for
14 days follow three simple steps:
1) Log in/register at the
www.tandfonline.com
2) Follow the link to activate your 14
days access
www.tandfonline.com/r/PoliticsIR
3) Explore the journal at
www.tandfonline.com/loi/rsec20