Iranian FM calls on world to boost efforts in nuclear disarmament in Geneva meeting

The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Abbas Araghchi delivered a speech at the 2025 High-Level Session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (UNCD) in Geneva on Monday expressing concerns over the serious threat posed by nuclear weapons and their catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences.

The Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, delivered a speech at the 2025 High-Level Session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament (UNCD) in Geneva on Monday, expressing concerns over the serious threat posed by nuclear weapons and their catastrophic humanitarian and environmental consequences.

Araghchi called for nuclear disarmament to remain the highest priority for the United Nations and the international community and emphasized the necessity of establishing a comprehensive convention on nuclear weapons.

The Iranian foreign minister stated, “The failure to adhere to legally binding nuclear disarmament obligations, particularly under Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), undermines the disarmament and arms control regime.”

He stressed the need for the international community to hold nuclear-armed states accountable for their international legal commitments.”

Araghchi expressed concern over the escalation of armed conflicts amidst geopolitical tensions, pointing out that some countries spend vast amounts of money on producing and stockpiling weapons under the guise of security, thus perpetuating a vicious cycle of insecurity and violence in the region and the world.

He added that the Israeli regime has committed unprecedented and brutal actions such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel's aggression in Gaza has resulted in the destruction of the enclave and the mass killing of over 46,000 people, mostly children, women, and the elderly.

“Throughout history, there has never been such a large number of journalists, medical personnel, and UN staff killed during a single armed conflict,” he noted, adding the war crimes, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and mass starvation perpetrated by the Israeli regime must never go unpunished.

Araghchi emphasized, “Weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons possessed by the Israeli regime, remain a serious threat to regional and global peace and security. This prevents the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East, which was first proposed by Iran in 1974.”

“The international community must hold the regime accountable, force it to join the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon member, eliminate its nuclear weapons irreversibly, and place all its nuclear activities under comprehensive IAEA safeguards,” he stated.

The Iranian foreign minister also highlighted the necessity of the non-weaponization of outer space, reiterating Iran's consistent stance on the peaceful use of outer space and firmly rejected any attempts to impose unilateral coercive measures that violate the legitimate rights of nations to peacefully exploit space.

The United Nations Conference on Disarmament, established in 1978, is the only international multilateral negotiation forum on disarmament, with 56 militarily significant states, including Iran. It is responsible for negotiating treaties in the domain of disarmament and arms control.

Each year, the high-level session of the United Nations Conference on Disarmament is held in late February in Geneva. During the session, high-ranking officials from member states present their national positions on important issues related to international peace, security, disarmament, and arms control, engaging in consultations and discussions with each other.