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Ratify nuclear test ban treaty, U.N. chief appeals to nations

— PHOTO: AFP

PUTTING HEADS TOGETHER: Iranian Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Asghar Soltanieh (left), talks to Iranian Vice-President Reza Aqazadeh during the IAEA session in Vienna on Monday.

VIENNA: United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged nations to quickly ratify the global treaty banning nuclear test explosions, saying it would ensure that North Korea’s test blast last October is the world’s final experiment with atomic weaponry.

Mr. Ban relayed his message through an envoy on Monday to a two-day conference in Vienna aimed at nudging the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the point where it will finally take effect.

Although 140 countries have ratified the accord — which bans all nuclear explosions — it will not enter into force until it has been ratified by 44 states listed in an annexe that participated in a 1996 disarmament conference. Only 34 of the 44 have done so. The 10 holdouts are China, Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the U.S.

Meanwhile, IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to cooperate fully with the agency on its nuclear issues. During his speech at the conference, he said Iran did not obey the resolution of the U.N. Security Council on suspending its uranium enrichment activities and the construction of the heavy water reactor in Arak. Mr. ElBaradei said Iran’s “complete transparency” on its nuclear issues should be the most important precondition for Iran-IAEA cooperation.

Iranian Vice-President Reza Aqazadeh said at the conference that the West always chooses the “path of confrontation” instead of the path of “understanding and amity” towards Iran.— AP, Xinhua

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