United Nations: The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China voiced support on Wednesday for making the Middle East a nuclear weapons-free zone, which would ultimately force Israel to scrap any atomic arms it has.
The move, in a joint statement, reflected US concern to win Arab backing for sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme by offering a concession over its ally Israel, but Washington says the zone cannot be actually established yet.
"We are committed to a full implementation of the 1995 NPT resolution on the Middle East and we support all ongoing efforts to this end," the five permanent UN Security Council members said in a statement issued at a conference taking stock of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The 1995 resolution adopted by signatories of the landmark arms control treaty called for making the Middle East a zone without nuclear arms. Israel has never confirmed or denied having nuclear arms.
Concrete steps
"We are ready to consider all relevant proposals in the course of the [NPT] Review Conference in order to come to an agreed decision aimed at taking concrete steps in this direction," said the statement.
US support for the idea of creating such a zone in the future could be unwelcome to Israel, which has said it can only consider it once there is Middle East peace.
But diplomats from Israel's Western allies say Arab states are pushing hard on the issue in exchange for their support in US-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear programme.
Egypt, which chairs the powerful 118-nation bloc of non-aligned developing nations, circulated a proposal to the 189 signatories of the treaty calling for a conference by next year on ridding the Middle East of nuclear arms in which all countries in the region would participate.
The US and Russia, with the support of the other three countries who allowed to keep nuclear weapons under the NPT, are negotiating with Egypt to come up with an acceptable compromise proposal, Western diplomats say.
Despite US support for the principle of the proposed zone, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday that the time was not yet ripe for creating the zone.
Peace plan
US Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher told an audience of delegates and reporters on Wednesday it was hard to imagine negotiating "any kind of free zone in the absence of a comprehensive peace plan that is running on a parallel track."
A spokeswoman for Israel's UN mission declined to comment. An Israeli diplomat said, however, that if Egypt "approach us on holding a regional conference dealing purely with the nuclear issue, they'll end up sitting there alone."
"We favour voluntary, freely negotiated and non-imposed negotiations dealing with all forms of WMDs [weapons of mass destruction], delivery systems, and other security issues," he said.
"You can't single out the nuclear file from other regional security issues."
Without naming specific countries, the big-power statement also urged those outside the NPT to join it. Israel, like nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, never signed the treaty but is presumed to have a sizeable atomic arsenal.
"We urge those states 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 powers said. The statement also touched on Iran and North Korea.
"The proliferation risks presented by the Iranian nuclear programme remain of serious concern to us," the five said. The five powers and Germany are negotiating on a fourth UN sanctions resolution against Iran for defying Security Council demands that it halt uranium enrichment.
Tehran refuses to stop enriching, saying its programme is intended solely for the peaceful generation of electricity.
The statement did not mention sanctions. Russia and China, Western diplomats say, are pushing hard in negotiations to dilute the measures in a US-drafted sanctions proposal.
Is the international community justified in working towards a nuclear arms-free Middle East? And is it possible? Should the international community focus on reconciliation instead of disarmament?
