“Any future treaty needs to fully respect the countries’ rights to legitimate defense as stipulated in the Article 51 of the UN Charter, and [under the treaty] every country should be able to determine its defense strategies itself without any foreign pressure or interference,” Mohammad Khazaei told a UN conference negotiating a global arms trade treaty.
“The treaty must compel the signatories to avoid resorting under any name to unilateral violent measures aimed at analyzing or restricting other countries’ inalienable security rights and interests,” the Iranian envoy added.
He said that the treaty’s sole objective must be to prevent the smuggling of conventional weapons, adding that the deal must not ban those arms deals that are in line with the countries’ definite right to self-defense.
In doing so, the treaty should respect the countries’ inherent right to obtain, produce, export, import and have access to technology and expertise for arms production, Khazaei added.
The UN conference, which runs through July 27, seeks to codify a global arms control treaty that would regulate the production as well as the import and export of conventional weapons.
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