Saudi King At UNGS Says Middle East Should Be Free Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday urged the international community to make the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction and expressed his support to the joint efforts aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2021) Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud on Wednesday urged the international community to make the middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction and expressed his support to the joint efforts aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

"The kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) stresses the importance of making the Middle East region free of all weapons of mass destruction. We therefore support international efforts aimed at preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. We are very concerned at Iranian steps that go counter to its commitment," King Salman said while addressing the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

The Saudi monarch said his country has a legitimate right to defend itself against missile, drone and other kinds of attacks and underscored the need for non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states while calling upon all states to respect each other's national sovereignty.

In 2015, Iran signed a nuclear agreement with the P5+1 group of countries, including the United States, China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom plus Germany as well as with the European Union. The agreement stipulated Tehran must scale back its nuclear program and reduce its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including the lifting of an arms embargo five years after the deal was inked.

In 2018, the United States withdraw from the agreement , formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and re-imposed comprehensive sanctions against Iran, prompting the latter to largely abandon its own obligations under the accord.

Since April, the JCPOA joint commission has held sessions in Vienna, which also hosted several informal meetings designed to prevent the agreement from collapsing after Washington's exit. The sixth round of discussions ended on June 20.