The U.S. said states, particularly Egypt set “unrealistic” conditions at a United Nations conference, while Egypt accused the U.S. and other delegations of deliberately trying to “hinder” efforts to create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. The tensions come after Egypt was adamant about reaching a regional, legally binding agreement to create a nuclear-free zone that all Middle East states must abide by. According to liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israel objected to a proposed deadline for a regional conference. The UN’s Non-Proliferation Treaty, a treaty that came into effect in 1970 to prevent the “wider dissemination of nuclear weapons,” is reviewed at five-year intervals. This year’s NPT review conference ran from April 27 to May 22 and like several previous conferences, it did not reach consensus on a final declaration to create a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. Egypt has long been vocal about calls for a nuclear-free Middle East, as per a 1995 resolution passed during a review and extension conference of the NPT. It led efforts to rally Arab states behind a proposal presented at this year’s review conference in what was often described as the…
Egypt, U.S. Clash Over Nuclear Free Middle-East at the United Nations
May 24, 2015
