General Assembly
Sixty-fourth session
Agenda items 9, 82, 92, 93, 96 and 107

Report of the Security Council

Report of the Special Committee on the Charter 
of the United Nations and on the Strengthening 
of the Role of the Organization

Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone 
in the region of the Middle East

Conclusion of effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons

General and complete disarmament

Report of the Secretary-General on the work 
of the Organization
Security Council
Sixty-fifth year



		Identical letters dated 13 April 2010 from the Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council


	On 6 April 2010, the United States government published its Nuclear Posture Review, which outlines the United States nuclear strategy and policy and, among others, contains groundless allegations against the peaceful nuclear programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Following the release of the Nuclear Posture Review, some high-ranking officials of the United States, including the President, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense, on the basis of wholly wrong assumptions, made public and implicit statements, threatening to use nuclear weapons against the Islamic Republic of Iran. For instance, the United States Secretary of Defense, in a news briefing held on 6 April 2010 at the Pentagon, asserted that “the Nuclear Posture Review has a very strong message for Iran …, because whether it’s in declaratory policy or in other elements of the Nuclear Posture Review, we essentially carve out States like Iran …. And basically all options are on the table when it comes to countries in that category.” He added “so, if there is a message for Iran here, it is that … all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you.” 
	In view of these developments, I would like to draw your kind attention to the following points:
	1.	Such inflammatory statements, which are tantamount to nuclear blackmail against a non-nuclear-weapon State signatory to the Treaty on the NonProliferation of Nuclear Weapons, constitute a serious violation of the obligations and commitment of the United States, under international law, in particular Article 2 (4) of the Charter of the United Nations and also the provisions of Security Council resolution 984 (1995), to refrain from the threat or use of force against any State.
	2.	It is evident that these statements are not only a declaration of intention but also part of an official document that articulates the policy of the United States on first use of nuclear weapons, at its discretion, against a non-nuclear-weapon State party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and, therefore, pose a real threat to international peace and security and undermine the credibility of the NonProliferation Treaty. Such remarks by United States officials display once again the reliance of the Government of the United States on a militarized approach to various issues, to which the threats of use of nuclear weapons are not a solution at all. 
	3.	The Islamic Republic of Iran, as a victim of weapons of mass destruction in recent history, is firmly committed to pursuing the realization of a world free from weapons of mass destruction, not only in words, but also through the full implementation of three major legal instruments banning weapons of mass destruction, namely the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Biological Weapons Convention and the Chemical Weapons Convention. In addition, the Islamic Republic of Iran has categorically and consistently rejected the development, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on religious and constitutional grounds. Iran’s nuclear activities are, and always have been, for peaceful purposes.
	4.	Forty years after the entry into force of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and while United States officials are apparently advocating nuclear non-proliferation, let us not forget that the United States, as the only nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon against the citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as a result of which 200,000 people perished, continues to illegitimately designate a non-nuclear-weapon State as a target of its nuclear weapons and contemplates military plans accordingly.
	In view of the above-mentioned points, members of the United Nations should not condone or tolerate such nuclear blackmail in the twenty-first century and should take resolute action to ensure the total elimination of all nuclear weapons as the only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons. In this regard, the United Nations and its relevant organs have a fundamental responsibility to strongly oppose the threat of use of nuclear weapons and to reject it. 
	It would be appreciated if the present letter could be circulated as a document of the General Assembly, under agenda items 9, 82, 92, 93, 96 and 107, and of the Security Council. 


(Signed) Mohammad Khazaee
Ambassador
Permanent Representative








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 United Nations
A/64/745–S/2010/188
 
 General Assembly
Security Council
Distr.: General
22 April 2010

Original: English


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