Application of IAEA Safeguards in the Middle East

Resolution adopted on 17 September 2009 during the ninth plenary meeting

The General Conference, [1]

(a) Recognizing the importance of the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons – both globally
and regionally – in enhancing international peace and security,

(b) Mindful of the usefulness of the Agency’s safeguards system as a reliable means of
verification of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy,

(c) Concerned by the grave consequences, endangering peace and security, of the presence in
the Middle East region of nuclear activities not wholly devoted to peaceful purposes,

(d) Welcoming the initiatives regarding the establishment of a zone free of all weapons of
mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, in the Middle East and earlier initiatives regarding
arms control in the region,

(e) Recognizing that full realization of these objectives would be promoted by the
participation of all States of the region,

(f) Commending the efforts of the Agency concerning the application of safeguards in the
Middle East and the positive response of most States in concluding a full-scope safeguards
agreement, and

(g) Recalling its resolution GC(52)/RES/15,

1. Takes note of the Director General’s report in document GC(53)/12;

2. Calls upon all States in the region to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT); [2]

3. Calls upon all States in the region, to accede to and implement, all relevant nuclear disarmament
and non-proliferation conventions; to fulfill in good faith international obligations and commitments
relating to safeguards and to cooperate fully with the IAEA within the framework of their respective
obligations;

4. Affirms the urgent need for all States in the Middle East to forthwith accept the application of
full-scope Agency safeguards to all their nuclear activities as an important confidence-building
measure among all States in the region and as a step in enhancing peace and security in the context of
the establishment of an NWFZ;

5. Calls upon all parties directly concerned to consider seriously taking the practical and
appropriate steps required for the implementation of the proposal to establish a mutually and
effectively verifiable NWFZ in the region, and invites the countries concerned which have not yet
done so to adhere to international non-proliferation regimes, including the Treaty on the Non-
Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as a means of complementing participation in a zone free of all
weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and of strengthening peace and security in the region;

6. Further calls upon all States of the region, pending the establishment of the zone, not to pursue
actions that would undermine the goal of establishing the zone, including developing, producing,
testing or otherwise acquiring nuclear weapons;

7. Further calls upon all States in the region to take measures, including confidence-building and
verification measures, aimed at establishing an NWFZ in the Middle East;

8. Urges all States to render assistance in the establishment of the zone and at the same time to
refrain from any action that would hinder efforts aiming at its establishment;

9. Mindful of the importance of establishing the Middle East as a nuclear weapons free zone, and
in this context, emphasizing the importance of establishing peace therein;

10. Requests the Director General to pursue further consultations with the States of the Middle East
to facilitate the early application of full-scope Agency safeguards to all nuclear activities in the region
as relevant to the preparation of model agreements, as a necessary step towards the establishment of a
NWFZ in the region, referred to in resolution GC(XXXVII)/RES/627;

11. Calls upon all States in the region to extend their fullest cooperation to the Director General in
the fulfilment of the tasks entrusted to him in the preceding paragraph;

12. Calls upon all other States, especially those with a special responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security, to render all assistance to the Director General by facilitating the
implementation of this resolution; and

13. Requests the Director General to submit to the Board of Governors and the General Conference
at its fifty-fourth (2010) regular session a report on the implementation of this resolution and to
include in the provisional agenda for that session an item entitled “Application of IAEA safeguards in
the Middle East”.