A draft resolution proposed by Iran to follow up the commitments of nuclear-weapon states on disarmament was approved during the 70th UN General Assembly.
The non-binding resolution, approved on Monday in New York, was based on the directives of three nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review conferences held in 1995, 2000 and 2010, Tasnim News Agency reported.
According to a vote tally provided by the UN, this resolution was passed overwhelmingly with 121 countries voting in favor of it, including most of the Non-Aligned Movement members.
Forty-eight states, including the United States, Israel, Canada, the UK, Russia, France and Germany, voted against the disarmament measure, while 12 countries, including China, Korea, Japan, India and Italy, abstained from the vote.
The assembly acknowledged the ethical imperatives for nuclear disarmament and the urgency of achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world, which is a “global public good of the highest order” serving both national and collective security interests.
The resolution asks for increased efforts to be made by nuclear-weapon states to promote international stability and security by reducing their nuclear arsenal.
An article of the draft calls for more transparency of nuclear-weapon states about their nuclear capabilities and adherence to international treaties, based on voluntary undertakings to build trust and help advance toward nuclear disarmament.
Other pillars of the resolution include further elimination of non-strategic nuclear weapons, adherence to agreed steps to lower the operational status of nuclear-weapon systems and the contribution of all nuclear-armed countries to the ultimate abolition of nuclear weapons.
Speaking at the session, Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative of Iran to the United Nations Gholamhossein Dehqani said the NPT asks nuclear-weapon states to hold negotiations over disarmament and make step-by-step efforts to disable and finally annihilate nuclear weapons.
"Unfortunately, they have not taken strong measures to this end yet," Dehqani said. "That is why the global community is adding to pressure against nuclear-armed states."
During the season of the UN General Assembly, 57 resolutions adopted by its First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), mostly regarding global peace and nuclear disarmament, was approved.
Israel was opposed to many of the resolutions and abstained from a few of them. Dehqani said the course of developments suggests that nuclear-weapons states, especially the Israeli regime, will be under more and more pressure.
"[Western] nuclear-armed powers are not only refusing to put any pressure on Israel, but are defending it," he said, adding that it cannot continue for a long time.
