Ambassador Sadeq Mohammad Maarefi is seen during the meeting. — KUNA

VIENNA: Kuwait yesterday renewed its call to clear weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East "as soon as possible." The official Kuwaiti stance was expressed by Ambassador Sadeq Mohammad Maarefi, Kuwait Permanent Delegate at the United Nations in Vienna, during a preparatory meeting for the conference on reviewing the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), due in New York in 2020. Ambassador Maarefi lamented "failure" of the latest NPT review convention, held in 2015, due to lack of seriousness on part of nations armed with nuclear weapons toward honoring their NPT commitments.

Noting Israel's failure to ink the NPT, Ambassador Maarefi said the treaty should include more members so it could be rendered a global accord. The first conference for WMDs proliferation in the Middle East was held in 2010.  An executive plan was adopted. The UN chief and three states, Britain, the US and Russia, had vowed to hold a conference for clearing the region of such arms. However, lack of political will from the relevant parties and Israel obstructed efforts to hold a follow-up conference and the one held in 2015 could not work out a final and conclusive document as a result of Israel's intransigence, he said.

Ambassador Maarefi said clearing the Middle East of nuclear arms and other WMDs and subjecting nuclear installations and programs to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) "is an uncompromising target for realizing security and stability in the region." He warned that possession and development of nuclear arms foil efforts for realizing regional and international peace and security. Ambassador Maarefi called for subjecting all nuclear installations in the Middle East, namely those built by Israel, to the CTBT of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Failure to place the Israeli nuclear facilities to the CTBT system constitutes a security danger to all humanity, he stressed. - KUNA