By E.B. SOLOMONT
05/05/2010
US says comprehensive regional peace is key to a WMD-free zone.

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council said they support a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, according to a unanimous statement circulated during a conference aimed at strengthening nonproliferation.

Without mentioning Israel by name, the group voiced support for the “full implementation” of a 1995 resolution intended to free the Middle East from nuclear arms. “We are committed to a full implemented of the 1995 NPT resolution on the Middle East and we support all ongoing efforts to this end,” the statement read. “We are ready to consider all relevant proposals in the course of the Review Conference in order to come to an agreed decision aimed at taking concrete steps in this direction.”

The statement also stressed “serious concern” over the Iranian nuclear program and urged all countries to sign and adhere the 1970 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

Three countries are not party to the NPT, including India, Pakistan and Israel, which is widely believed to possess a nuclear arsenal. “We urge those state that are not parties to the treaty to accede as non-nuclear-weapon states and pending accession to the NPT, to adhere to its terms,” the five countries wrote.

Coming on the third day of a month-long NPT review conference, the statement spoke to competing interests: The US came into the conference pushing for tough measures against Iran, while in speeches the Arab states have increasingly focused on Israel’s presumed nuclear arms and their desire for Israel to sign the NPT as a non-nuclear weapon state.

Even while signing the statement – along with China, France, Russia and the United Kingdom – US officials stressed, however, that current circumstances in the Middle East would not allow for the immediate implementation of the 1995 resolution. “Making progress on a Middle East free of WMD will become all the more difficult if Iran continues to raise concerns in the region and beyond about the nature of its nuclear program,” a US official said.

The US, one of the original sponsors of the 1995 resolution, said comprehensive regional peace is key to a WMD-free zone. “It is unlikely that this will occur before Iran demonstrates that it has come back into compliance with its NPT and IAEA safeguards obligations,” a US official said.

Israel is going to come under intense international pressure to admit if we have nukes or not.

If we admit to having nukes then Israel will be pushed to give up the weapons, if we say we have no nukes then we will be forced to submit to searches for the missing nukes.