Following the conclusion of the General Debate, the meetings of the three Main Committees of the Eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) are currently underway. The Conference is scheduled to conclude on 22 May.
In his statements, Ambassador Leonardo Bencini, Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, reaffirmed Italy’s strong commitment to the multilateral disarmament architecture and to the NPT, which constitutes a cornerstone of this framework. He also reiterated Italy’s support for the moratorium on nuclear testing, pending the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
He stressed that the objective of achieving complete nuclear disarmament should be pursued under Article VI of the NPT in a gradual, comprehensive, verifiable, and irreversible manner, and in accordance with the principle of undiminished security for all.
With regard to ongoing proliferation concerns, Ambassador Bencini underscored that Iran must never acquire nuclear weapons and called on Tehran to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He also reiterated Italy’s condemnation of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, which constitute a violation of its international obligations under the NPT, and urged the DPRK to return to full compliance with the Treaty.
