The ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) criticized some nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) member parties for collaborating with non-signatories to the treaty, appealing to them to cease their nuclear cooperation with such countries, particularly Israel.
Reza Najafi made the call in a statement he read out at the ongoing 2015 Review Conference of the NPT in New York on Tuesday on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), IRNA reported.
He invoked article 4 of the NPT to assert the inalienable right of all parties to the pact to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The statement urged NPT signatories, especially nuclear states, to show goodwill through meeting their commitments to help non-nuclear states access nuclear energy without setting any preconditions.
Illegal restrictions on exports of nuclear technology, materials and equipment should be lifted as soon as possible to facilitate their transfer to nun-nuclear countries for civilian purposes, Najafi said, underlining the role the IAEA can play to this end.
He stressed that the right to apply various means to provide the required energy to meet domestic needs is reserved by all countries and they are entitled to develop full nuclear fuel cycles for peaceful purposes, as enshrined in the NPT.
The statement denounced politically motivated moves to impose limitations on some parties to the treaty as intended to pressure developing countries mainly to prevent their access to peaceful applications of nuclear energy, saying such restrictions are in blatant contravention of articles 3 and 4 of the IAEA safeguards agreement, calling for their immediate removal.
Najafi closed his speech by putting forward a nineteen-point proposal to ensure the rights of NPT signatories to nuclear energy research, development, production and peaceful uses, demanding that it be included in the final report of the review conference.
